Legacy of the Dark Slayer
by ZerothMask
Summary: He was always the defenseless. The kid that hides in the trees. That one that always needed saving. But he was tired of that. Tired of it all. If only something would change that. Well, maybe a little motivation would do him wonders.
1. Be Careful What You Wish For

In a minivan heading towards the local Mistralian Fair was a family of seven - a mother and her children - five daughters, and a single son. The mother, Jeanne Arc, was an angel in almost every sense of the word. From her looks - having long, golden hair that passed her shoulder and a single bang covering the right side of her face, a gorgeous look accented with gray-silver eyes and rosy lips. To her movement, and way of speaking. If one were to ask a variety of people regarding her personality, the results would be mixed. Some would say she acted like a cold-hearted devil, while the others would speak of her caring nature, similar to the angels of myth.

Next were her daughters. The oldest was Noir, age 24. She had inherited her mother's looks, apart from her eyes, being steel blue. Two well known facts about her was her seriousness and perfectionist habit. Though once you get pass that, she's actually quite affable. Wanting to forge her own path, she had pursued a military career and held the rank of Specialist. Currently, she was off-duty, since there weren't any wide scale events that had caught the military's attention.

Her weapon of choice was an O-katana with the scabbard customized into a shotgun. Yes, a shotgun. A lever action that took in either rounds or Dust. It also enabled her to swiftly draw her blade, if sheathed, by pulling the trigger, causing it to shoot out. The weapon's name was Murasama.

After her were twins, Sol and Luna, age 20. Being twins, it was expected for them to look the exact same, their hair being the main difference. The former had it styled wild, like a lion's mane, while the latter had hers tied into a simple yet refined topknot.

Sol was the text-book definition of energetic and adventurous, while Luna was quite the opposite, being more reserved and highly preferred to read. Despite this, the two of them aspire to become Huntresses, and are currently enrolled in Mistral's academy, Haven. Sol's weapons are twin revolvers, aptly named Amaterasu, that she often uses with gun-fu, while Luna wielded a large scythe that could be shifted into a broadsword, called Tsukuyomi.

Then came Saphron, age 17. She had wavy, dirty blonde hair. Like Noir, she had inherited their father's eyes - steel blue ones. She's an understanding, kind, caring and loving type of person, liking to tease her siblings and friends. She had little interest in the art of fighting, and is instead working to become a writer. Despite this, she had been trained how to fight, using gauntlets.

And the last daughter was Nera, age 15. Probably the most rowdy of the bunch, having been caught stirring trouble numerous times. She got into the art of crafting weapons and aspired to be a weapons smith. And, she turned out to be a prodigy, having managed to create numerous weapons. Although, she used them to caused the aforementioned trouble. But those were all a result of her overly protectiveness to the youngest child of all, her little brother. Jaune Arc.

Jaune, age 9, was the most well-behaved, but also the most quiet. Due to the fact that he was the only male in his family, he had became an outcast of sorts to the children in their neighborhood, often being subjected to ridicule and bullying. At first, it was just nothing but harmless insults, until it started to become pushing and tripping. It wasn't long when someone threw the first punch, and others followed suit.

He tried to hide it, but unfortunately for him, he couldn't mask his bruises and his emotions. His mother had discovered his pain and gave the most brutal tongue lashing she could to the parents of the bullies. For the most part, it worked, but some were stubborn and kept on bullying Jaune.

And that was when Nera took matter into her own hands and tracked down each individual bully and humiliated them all. It was easy, since they were all in the same school. She would've been expelled if it wasn't for Jeanne's threats of having the school be shut down for negligence and allowing harm to her child.

This led to Jaune becoming more of an outcast and had to be home schooled as a result.

Jaune passively watched as they passed by the many houses on their way to the fair. He hoped he didn't had to be babysat by any of his sisters. He loved them, but he wanted to be alone and probably play by himself.

_"I wonder how things will be today. Will they be the same, or will things finally change and be different for me?"_

The minivan came to a halt, snapping Jaune out of his musing. Quickly, his sisters exited the car, with him following suit. The six of them looked at the numerous amounts of rides and stands with varied reactions. Jeanne's eyes narrowed for a split second as she went back to the minivan.

"Kids, go on ahead. Noir, take charge of your siblings. I'm just going to check on something, alright? Have fun."

The eldest sister nodded and led the others into the fair, right towards a couple of table benches, with a nearby wishing well. While Noir relayed her orders, Jaune went up to the well, looking down at the numerous coins inside. He fished out a quarter from his pocket and decided, why not? He flipped the coin into the well and made his wish.

_"I wish…for a friend, and for things to be finally different. I don't really care how, but I just want it to happen."_

"Alright, don't wander off too far. Go on, have fun, and try to stay out of trouble, alright? Let's meet up back here after we're all done, okay?"

When no one voiced any sort of objections, Noir nodded and walked off. As Jaune was about to break off from his sisters, Nera grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him away. After passing a couple of more stands, Jaune finally spoke up.

"Nera, where are you taking me?"

The youngest had a cheeky smirk as she stopped and looked at her little brother. "Ah come on. Did you think I'll let you have fun all by yourself? Besides, you're too young to go out all by yourself. And as your big sister, it's my duty to protect you."

Despite the annoyance he felt, Jaune couldn't help but smile at Nera's insistence in protecting him. It may be suffocating, but it also felt nice that they cared.

"Alright. You win. Now, let's go win us some games!"

"That's the spirit! Come on!"

* * *

The two siblings spent their time wandering around, playing fair games that they knew had a cheat in them. It was fun watching them gape like fish when they beat their games. They mostly took some of the sweets that were available in the stands, though Jaune did get a red fox plushy because it seemed adorable. He didn't want it, but was just compelled to for some reason.

Nera and Jaune sat on the bench, compiling their winnings. The former grinned, admiring their spoils. "Heh. Serves them right for trying to cheat us out on our money. And probably on some poor souls too. So, will you take the caramel chocolates or the ones with strawberry?"

When she didn't receive a respond, Nera looked up from the pile to see Jaune staring off. She looked in the direction he was staring at and a saw a young, redheaded girl trying out the ball toss to win the top prize - a fox plushy. And from the looks of it, she was being played a fool. From their direction, the siblings could see that the stacked cups were held together by something. Whatever it was, it made the game quite difficult. The stall owner cockily told the girl that she lost, making her feel dejected and start walking away.

Nera looked back at Jaune and something lit up in his eyes. Something she never saw in him. The desire to help. The youngest sister smiled and supported his decision.

"Go ahead, little bro. I'll be close by."

With conviction, Jaune grabbed his fox plushy and rushed over to the redhead. "Hey, wait up!"

The redhead turned around, a bit surprised that some stranger was calling out to her. She looked at him and immediately thought he was cute. She saw what he was carrying and couldn't help but look jealous. Again, she was surprised as Jaune handed the fox plushy to her.

"Here. You can have it."

The girl looked shock that the cute stranger before her was giving away his plushy. For her. She looked a bit hesitant before gingerly taking it off his hands, accepting it. She pressed it against her chest tightly, looking happy.

"T-Thank you." she spoke out for the first time.

Jaune smiled back, scratching the back of his head. "You're welcome. My mom told me that we should help anyone in need. And, I didn't really need the plushy, so it'd be better to give it someone else who really wanted it. My name's Jaune. What's yours?"

The girl lightly blushed and looked away for a moment before introducing herself. "P-Pyrrha."

The blond nodded, before he realized that Pyrrha was just by herself. "Hey, where are your parents?"

Pyrrha looked down, a bit scared. "I got separated from them. I stopped to look at the rides and next thing I know, my parents weren't there."

"Well, do you wanna hang out with me for a while? We can go explore the fair, and maybe we'll find your parents." he suggested.

Pyrrha's expression changed. She beamed and nodded. Jaune beamed back and gently grabbed her by the wrist, starting their fun. In the background, Nera couldn't help but tear up in joy in seeing her little brother socialize. It made her happy that he finally made a friend.

* * *

This was possibly the happiest Jaune has been. Besides his family, he had always been alone. He had no friends to talk to, share his interests with, or to hang out with. His sisters didn't count because they were his sisters. To finally have a friend was a big deal for him.

He and Pyrrha had very much played through all of the games they could have found, winning some and losing some. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find Pyrrha's parents, so they went to the benches, eating some candies as they talked.

"So, Jaune. Can you tell me about your family?"

Jaune popped a piece of strawberry chocolate into his mouth as he spoke. "Well, Noir is in the military. People say she's scary, but I think she's nice. The only time I saw her be scary was when someone tripped her and made her dropped her caramel sundae."

Pyrrha chewed on her chocolate bar, humming in thought. "Well, if caramel sundaes are her favorite, I think I would get angry at that man too. Plus, it's not nice to trip someone."

"Yeah. Big Sister made sure he wouldn't do that again. That bad guy's stuck in prison, I think. Anyway, next are Sol and Luna. They're like night and day. Big Sis Sol likes to make fun of me. That's why I like Luna more. She always gives me helpful and advice and would read me stories before I go to sleep. And she always gives me candy!"

The redhead nodded. Jaune then continued.

"Big Sis Saphron is pretty different from my other sisters. She doesn't like fighting and likes writing books. Not much else to say. Then there's Nera. She's my favorite. She's always there for me and we hang out most of the time and prank Sol. And my mom, well, she's the greatest. She teaches me a bunch of great stuff and would always treat us whenever we do great. She's the nicest person I know, so I don't get why some people would call her a witch."

"What about your father?"

Jaune's mood turned somber as his head lowered, his hair hiding his eyes. "I never met him… He just picked up and left a day before my 1st birthday. I only see pictures of him, and never got to know how he was as a person."

Pyrrha immediately felt guilty asking that question and tried to apologize, only for Jaune to quickly turn it around.

"But enough about me, what about you, Pyrrha? Tell me about yourself."

The redhead twirled her hair around shyly with one hand, and used the other to nibble on her chocolate. "Well, it's just me and my parents, actually. My dad works as an instructor in Haven while mom works at a bakery in our home. I'm actually kind of jealous of you, Jaune. I always wanted a little brother or sister to play with, but for some reason, they get sad whenever I ask for one."

Jaune was also confused at that but made no remark. He went to unwrap his next piece of candy only to hiss in pain and wag around his finger, a little bit of blood dripping onto the floor, making Pyrrha concerned.

"You should be careful, Jaune. You never know when you'd get a paper cut."

"I know." he hissed out. "It's always when you least expect it."

Unknown to them, a random bystander suddenly stopped walking. His nostrils being invaded with a sweet scent as his eyes widened. But it didn't make him salivate, it made him furious. He turned around and found the source coming from Jaune. More specifically, his little paper cut.

And he wasn't alone. Numerous others were doing the same motions as he is, confusing many bystanders. As one, they began to chant out a single name, shouting it louder than the previous ones.

"Sparda... Sparda! SPARDA! **SPARDAAAAAAAAAA!"**

They roared out as their skins became a pure red. Their skins shed off, revealing reptilian-like skin, and horrifying features. Numerous people recognized what they were, but one sole idiot screamed it out.

"DEMONS!"

All hell broke loose as everyone screamed and panicked. The demons roared and pounced on whatever that came within their sights. From behind a booth, Nera bit down a curse as she saw Jaune and Pyrrha freeze up in fear. She turned to run, only to be pushed back by a stampeding crowd, further separating her from her brother.

"No! Clear the way, dammit! Jaune!"

Hearing his sister, Jaune regained his bearings and grabbed Pyrrha by the wrist. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

The two of them ran while the demons were preoccupied with slaughtering the bystanders.

* * *

**At the Center**

"Move, people, move! Forget whatever you're doing right now and evacuate the fair! This is not a drill, nor is this an exercise! If you want to live, get out of here!" shouted out Noir as she directed the people into the exits.

Saphron was helping her out, reuniting the lost children with their parents. Luna and Sol were doing the same. The guards were trying their best to hold them off, but their weapons seemed to only piss them off.

"Sissies!"

The four Arc children turned their heads, seeing Nera run up to them. Saphron, being the closest, approached her. "Nera, where's Jaune?"

Nera panted, trying to catch her breath. Before she could speak, Jeanne appeared, carrying a large briefcase. She opened it up, revealing an array of weapons, all belonging to her daughters.

"Girls, gear up."

The fighters quickly grabbed their respective weapons and got ready. Saphron grabbed the battle gauntlets. Nera reached in and grabbed two guns - a twin-barreled revolver and a large automatic pistol. Jeanne reached out into the air, and a white and golden O-katana materialized into her hand. She twirled it around and flicked the handle up, She drew it and released a wide arc of energy, striking a group of demons.

She sheathed back her weapon with a satisfying click. She turned back to her children, but then that's when she noticed that she was missing two of her kids. "Where did Nera go? And most importantly, where's Jaune?"

None of the girls responded since they didn't know where they were. The mother gritted her teeth in worry. "Noir, Saphron, stay here and protect the bystanders. Sol, Luna, scatter and see if there are any more trapped inside the fair. I'm going to find Nera and Jaune."

The four of them nodded and went on to their assigned tasks. The twins ran off in different directions, while Saphron and Noir stayed behind. Jeanne closed her eyes and felt out the entire area, trying to find her youngest children. It wasn't long until she pinpointed Jaune's location.

"Stay safe, darlings!"

"You too, mom!"

And with that, Jeanne headed off. Saphron and Noir stared at the enclosing demons with a heated glare. Her finger hovered the trigger as her hand prepared to catch the blade. "Shall we?" asked Noir.

Saphron nodded. The two of them charged in to the horde of demons with a loud battle cry.

* * *

**Back with Jaune and Pyrrha**

The two of them were still running as the demons followed them, all the while stopping for a moment to kill a few people. Jaune could only feel despair as he heard the monsters get closer.

_"Why is this happening?! Where did they come from?! And why do they keep following us?! Mommy, where are you?!" _

Those were their shared thoughts as they hastened their speed as much as their legs could allow. Pyrrha spotted a relatively safe hiding spot and brought it to Jaune's attention. They quickly headed towards there as the demons preoccupied themselves with another group of bystanders.

Jaune and Pyrrha leaned against the wall, catching their breath as silent as they could. Suddenly, Pyrrha wrapped her arms around Jaune, and clutched on to him, trembling as she wept.

"I'm scared, Jaune."

The blond reciprocated this action and teared up as well. "Me too, Pyrrha. Me too."

As he said this, a demon smashed through the building, the debris falling around them. Jaune's first instinct was to wrap his arms around Pyrrha in a protective manner. The demon stared down on the blond child, excitement in its eyes as it bared its fangs.

**"Finally! We get to exact our revenge against Sparda! Now, die h-urk!"**

The demon's words were cut off as it got gunned down, his body shredded by bullets. Both the blond and redhead slowly looked up and saw Nera standing in front of them, holding out two guns with smoking barrels.

"Get. The hell. Away from my brother!"

More demons crawled towards them, and Nera responded with pulling the trigger on her weapons - Blue Rose and Clean Sweep. While the demons were being killed, Jaune and Pyrrha quickly ran behind Nera for safety.

The blonde stopped firing once there were no more demons in sight. She holstered Blue Rose and turned to her little brother and his new friend.

"Come on, let's get out of here!"

Unfortunately, however, another horde of demons arrived, blocking their path. Nera gritted her teeth. In the corner of her eyes, she saw a little booth mostly unscathed from the sudden attack. She pulled out a little canister with a pin on the top, her eyes unwavering.

"When I give the signal, run as fast as you can into that little booth. And don't turn back. Got it?" she whispered.

Both kids nodded. Nera threw the canister into the air and shot it. The thing erupted in a bright flash, blinding the demons. Jaune and Pyrrha took this as the signal and started sprinting.

The youngest daughter let out a battle cry and rapidly fired at the distracted creatures of hell, killing them all before they could react. A demon managed to evade the bullets and lunged at the blonde. Nera jumped back and spin-kicked it on the head, before blasting its chest open.

Another horde appeared, making Nera blanch. _"Just how badly do they want us dead?!"_

Nonetheless, she stayed firm and swiftly reloaded her guns. Nera jumped high into the air twirled around, unloading on the demons like a hail storm. She landed and continued firing. She shifted her aim with Blue Rose to the right, stopping the demons that approached.

Out of nowhere, a demon took her by surprise and managed to wretch Clean Sweep off her hands. The demon roared in her face then broke the gun by chomping down on it. Nera growled in anger and pulled out a dagger.

"My Papa gave me that gun!"

She slid under its claws and impaled it through the chest. She flipped off behind it and stabbed it twice, making a huge gash on its back. Finally, she finished it off splitting its head in half. The blonde glared at the corpse, covered in blood

"That, was for breaking one of the few things my Papa gave me."

Nera looked yonder, seeing more demons coming out. _"There has to be someone summoning them! Every time I kill one, more take its place… Papa, where are you? Please, help us."_

* * *

In the booth, Jaune and Pyrrha were huddled in the corner. The only thing they could hear was the ongoing slaughter by Nera's hands.

Jaune grew worried as he heard Pyrrha sniffle, whimpering out for her mother. The blond just comforted her the best he could by placing his hand on top of hers and tried to placate her fears.

"Hey, don't cry. We'll get through this, I promise. Nera is strong, she'll protect us."

The redhead wiped away her tears and looked into his eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah. And after everything, we'll hang out and play again, right?"

Pyrrha smiled at the thought of being with Jaune again and nodded.

**"There you are~ I see you~"**

Jaune pushed Pyrrha down and screamed as she was snatched up by a demon. The demon, in simplest terms, looked like a demonic minotaur, its horns and eyes ablaze, fire coursing through its skin. Pyrrha's eyes widened at her friend being held captive.

"Jaune!"

The demon rumbled out a laugh, looking at the Arc boy. **"So, you are Sparda's latest descendant? Not so impressive."**

"Let him go!" Pyrrha gathered up her courage and started hitting the demon on its hooves.

It was not amused and casually kicked her out, which also knocked her out. Before Jaune could voice out his reaction, the demon tightened its grip around him, sneering at the struggling blond.

**"I will enjoy this!"**

The demon smacked him around like a ragdoll before tossing him up into the air and struck him with the blunt side of his weapon, sending him out of the booth.

Nera, who had just killed off another horde, noticed. "Jaune!" However, more demons surrounded her and blocked her path.

Jaune felt his everything ache. The pain he felt right now compared was magnitudes more painful compared to the abuse he suffered from the neighborhood children. He feebly pushed himself up to witness the demon stalking up to Pyrrha, a sadistic grin on its face.

**_"_I should kill you right here and now, but I want you to suffer first! Now, watch as I end this miserable worm's life!" **it declared, raising its axe up.

The blond found himself standing up, trying his best to ignore the pain. "PYRRHA!" he shouted out in desperation as he ran to his newest friend.

There was no way. No chance in hell that he'd let someone who gave him happiness to die just after they met. No way! He ran as far as his injured body could let him. Soon, he reached Pyrrha and pushed her out of the way, letting him be the target of the attack.

The demon had no time in re-coursing his action and brought down his giant axe upon Jaune's right arm, completely severing it.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed out as the blood gushed out from his newly formed stump.

Forget what he had thought earlier. There was no greater pain than what he was feeling right now! The demon looked at the blond with an almost disappointed look.

**"How foolish of you, boy. I had hope to grant you a quick death, but now I will make it slow and painful. I will make you bleed down to the last drop!"**

The demon moved to attack once again. Jaune closed his eyes and braced for his impeding death. At this moment, Pyrrha had woken. She saw Jaune's current state and was horrified. She couldn't move, and she couldn't even speak. She could only close her eyes and pray for a miracle.

And it came…with a cost.

Jaune heard the sound of flesh being penetrated as his face was splattered with blood…yet he felt nothing apart from his earlier wounds. He tentatively opened up his eyes, and he dearly regretted that he did.

In front of him was Nera, her face scrunched up in pain as blood dribbled down her chin, the large blade belonging to the demon poking out from her chest. Nera weakly aimed Blue Rose at the demon and shot it in the face, making him stumble and pull back his axe, letting Nera fall.

No. This couldn't be happening. Not his sister! "NERAAAAAAAAA!" he screamed out, momentarily forgetting his pain.

The demon groaned as it recomposed itself, feeling annoyed at the intrusion. Jaune winced and scrambled up to his sister, a large of pool blood forming under her.

"Nononononononononono! Nera!" Tears steamed down his face, seeing his sister in pain and not being able to do anything about it. "Please…don't leave me!"

Despite her eminent death, Nera took the time to smile as her eyes wavered. "I-it's alright, Jaune… Everything's going to be okay. Papa will come…and save us."

"No!" he denied. "He's not coming back. He abandoned us!"

"Silly Jaune… Papa promised me…that he would come…like the heroes in fairy tails…to save us whenever we're in danger."

Jaune could only sob harder as Nera's eyes fluttered, finding it difficult to keep her eyes open. She turned to her little brother and made a request.

"Hey, Jaune-Jaune…? Wake me up…when Papa comes, okay?"

"Do that yourself! Just don't close your eyes, please!"

"But I can't… I feel so…tired."

Nera's head tilted to the side as her eyes closed. And with that, she slipped into the eternal slumber of death, never to awaken once again. Jaune desperately tried to deny it. He tried, but he couldn't. The only thing he could manage was to scream in anguish and hope that everything was just a nightmare.

The demon grunted, gaining Jaune's attention and snapped him back to reality. He wasn't dreaming. Everything was real. Nera's dead, and soon, he and Pyrrha will be next.

**"Is this really why Sparda betrayed us? For such pathetic reasons?! Tsk, such annoyance. Now,"** it handled its axe with its other hand, glaring deeply into the blond. **"If there will no longer be any interruptions. Perish!"**

Jaune watched as the axe got closer, but he paid no heed to it due to his internal despair. _"Am I really going to die? After I've just made a friend? After I've just lost my sister?" _He gritted his teeth, becoming angry at his situation. _"To hell with that! Power… If only I had power! Power to change my fate, power not to lose the world!"_

Unknown to him, everything around him came to a halt and his surroundings changed. He was now in a dark plain with only him and a blue flame present.

**_"Tell me, why do you desire power?" _**asked the flame.

Jaune could only grit his teeth and clutch his stump of an arm, his mind flashing to his sister's corpse then to Pyrrha. He looked down, his eyes shadowed by his bangs.

"I'm tired. I'm tired of being useless. I'm tired of sitting in the sidelines while my family risks their lives in trying to protect me! I want to help. I want to return the favor when they protected me. And not just them! I want to be a hero. One who saves others because they can't protect themselves. That's why… I need power!"

**_"But would you be willing to pay any price to gain it? What would you give up?"_ **

"If I have to become a demon, then so be it!" he declared. "I'll shed my humanity. Anything...to protect those that matter to me!"

The flames seemed amused and satisfied with his answer and grew brighter.

**_"Then step forth, and claim the power you rightfully deserve, Jaune D. Arc!"_ **

Jaune's eyes snapped open. His eyes lost its soft, azure color, now replaced by a deadly, blood red. A bright light shrouded his body, making him look menacing. Whatever it was, it changed the color of his hair. No longer was it a golden blond, it had become a silvery-white, what remained of his old hair were left with nothing but the tips.

**"What sorcery is this?!" **roared out the demon.

The light then surged and went to his stump. It expanded and began to mold itself, starting to resemble an arm. The glow dissipated and showed off Jaune's new arm. It was scaled, clawed, radiating with raw energy.

The demon felt itself slightly panic at the sight. **"It can't be! Has he unlocked his demonic powers?!"** It recomposed itself and placed up its bravado. **"Feh. It matters not. He's nothing but a we-"**

The demon was cut off as a fist embedded itself into its stomach, courtesy of Jaune. He roared and smacked the demon onto the ground. He straddled it and started pummeling him with his new arm at a rapid pace.

Jaune then punched it through the head, leaving a gaping hole. He looked at the other demons, scaring them with his blood-coated face.

**"Who's next?"** he spoke in a warped and echoed tone.

The demons didn't move, completely frozen at the amount of energy that Jaune exuded. The blond narrowed his eyes and slowly stood up, huffing out in anger.

**"If none of you are gonna move, then I'll grab the first napkin!"**

And it was literal. A phantom arm emerged besides him and snatched one of the demons. He looked at it with contempt and smashed it into the pavement, immediately disintegrating it. He raised and crossed his arms together, blocking the attack of two demons. The blond clenched his fist and punched through the demon's chest clean. Jaune pulled back and grabbed the other one by the head and crushed it mercilessly.

In the sidelines, Pyrrha watched in a mixture of awe and fear as Jaune basically beat the demon into submission. She couldn't deny the fact that the way he was acting was scaring her, especially his eyes. She then noticed a strings of red emanating from the demons and entering his arm.

Pyrrha screamed as a demon grabbed her from behind and tried to suffocate her. Jaune turned around and panicked. "Pyrrha!"

Before Jaune could even move, the demon's arms fell limp as its head rolled off its body. Pyrrha shrieked in fear and quickly ran into Jaune's arms. He hovered his demonic arm over her protectively, getting anxious as to what killed the demon.

The demon's headless corpse slumped down and revealed his mother, Jeanne, her weapon now stained with blood. Jaune's eyes bugged out in surprise.

"Mom?!"

Before she could respond, more demons popped out and lunged right at her, Jeanne sheathed back her blade and slipped into an Iaido stance. She narrowed her eyes at the creatures of hell and dashed forward, disappearing in the blink of an eye. No one reacted as she reappeared behind Jaune and Pyrrha, her weapon drawn. Jeanne wasted no time and placed back her blade in its scabbard with a satisfying click, blades of light shredding the demons into nothingness.

The mother turned around to face the two, looking very worried. "Are you alright?"

"Mom…" Jaune mumbled out. He lost the red glow in his eyes and ran into his mother's chest, letting loose the tears that have been building up. "N-Nera, she's-!"

Jeanne looked at her son in confusion, before spotting her youngest daughter's body, sporting a large gash with a pool of blood below her.

"No…"

Jeanne took a few steps forward, tears threatening to burst out as she slowly approached Nera's corpse.

"Not my baby girl…" she uttered to herself in disbelief.

Unfortunately, she would not get the time to mourn. More demons appeared and started circling around them. Pyrrha pressed further into Jaune, who hugged her protectively.

The grieving mother couldn't contain herself and let out an ear splitting roar, a bright flash erupting from her body, blinding those near by. The light died down and the two children gasped in awe at the sight before them.

Jeanne had changed. No longer did she look human. Her most notable difference was her skin color, having become a lightly chrome white. Above her head, a halo floated. From her back, white, feathered wings sprouted and covered her body, which was practically bare, apart from the markings that traveled across it. Her face bore a scowl of rage, her eyes only white coronas and no pupils.

Despite that, she had transformed into what seemed to be an angel. A warrior angel. Jeanne slightly unsheathed her blade, glaring at the demons before her.

**"Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. We're nothing more but dust, and to the dust we shall return!"**

With an ear-piercing cry, she dashed in and brought down her fury onto the creatures of hell. From the sidelines, both Jaune and Pyrrha looked on in awe. Despite Jeanne's anger, she still moved and attacked with grace, precision, and most importantly, style.

It looked straight out of a choreographed action scene from a move.

Jeanne stabbed her blade into a demon's gut before pulling back and twirled around like a ballerina, striking those dumb enough to enter her rage. Finally, she had enough and decided to end things. She placed back her blade into its sheath and slipped in an Iajitsu stance. She steadied her breath and suddenly, a burst of energy mowed down the remaining demons, without her even drawing out her sword.

The two children had their eyes bugged out in surprise, not at all expecting that.

"W-what just happened?"

"I… I don't know. It's like my mom was so quick in attacking, we didn't even see her take out her weapon. I know my mom is awesome, but not at this level."

Jeanne stood up and straightened her hair, getting some blood and chunks of flesh out. Now that the demons were gone, she allowed herself to change back into her human form.

Suddenly, Jaune gasped and fell back, feeling a bit faint. Pyrrha cried out in surprise and caught him before he could hit the floor. Jeanne walked up to the two and checked up on her son, placing the palm of her hand onto her forehead.

"There's nothing to worry about. His body had just caught up with the adrenaline he felt earlier. That," she looked at his new arm, caressing it gently. "and his heritage having been forcefully awakened."

Noir and her sisters ran up to the scene, having dealt with the stragglers. "Mother, the local Hunters have arrived on the scene and are cleaning up the rest of the stragglers. Have you found-"

The eldest interrupted herself, seeing the unmistakable corpse of their youngest sister. The four of them displayed varying reactions. Noir clasped her mouth in horror, the twins clung on each other to desperately stave off the tears, while Saphron had the vocal reaction, openly crying.

"Oh god… Not Nera!"

Jeanne approached her daughter's corpse and knelt besides it. She gently caressed her hair, tears dripping down onto her body. The mother leaned in and gave her a parting kiss on the forehead, gently whispering to her.

"Good night, little one."

Jeanne stared back at her lone son, or to be more specific, his arm… She had no idea how to deal with it. Her husband had insisted that he would be the one deal with their son's training once he became of age. So, she knew nothing on how to train one's demon side. And with her husband gone, she was lost.

That was, until, she remembered a certain someone her husband had mentioned numerous times. Jeanne shook her head, focusing at the task at hand.

_"I'll deal with that later… My family comes first."_

* * *

**A Week Later - Somewhere in Mistral**

A motorcycle skid to a stop in front of a building, the rider disembarking and put it on stun. He stared at the building, more importantly, at the neon sign at the top it, though it didn't light up since it was currently day.

It read, **DEVIL MAY CRY, **with a figure of a person wielding a large sword and a gun at the end.

The person allowed a somber smile to grace his face as he continued to gaze upon the sight. "How long has it been since I've last been here?" he asked himself.

He had silvery-white hair, brushed down and parted into two bangs, one of them covering his right eye. He wore a red coat, with two long coattails. The front of it was designed differently, resembling a vest, the zipper closed all the way up. He wore red jeans, high black boots, a belt with a skull-themed buckle wrapped around his chest and black, gauntlet-shaped gloves.

The man in red sighed and slowly walked up the steps to the entrance. He gently opened up the door and was lightly surprised to see a black-skinned man in dapper clothing on his desk, a fresh box of pizza sitting in front of him.

"Morrison." he said in familiarity. "Guess that means you've been running the shop since I was gone?"

The man took off his hat and nodded. "That's right. Guess I felt it was my duty to keep it afloat while you did your business in hell. Pizza?"

"Don't mind if I do." he said, taking a slice. "So, where are the other two?"

Morrison leaned in on the chair, propping his feet up on the desk. "They're on a job. Somewhere out in Vacuo. They're really something. You know, they might've not shown it, but they missed you, Dante."

Dante grunted, taking another bite into his pizza. "Then they got crazy way of showing it- stealing my jobs, putting me in debt? Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way."

The dapper man nodded in agreement, the two of them basking in the silence.

**RING RING**

The telephone rung, attracting both of their attention. Morrison smirked and pushed it into Dante's direction. "Looks like business is beckoning for you, Dante."

"Right, right."

Dante walked up to the telephone and plucked its receiver, putting it on his ear as he grabbed another slice. "Devil May Cry. How can I help you?"

As he prepared to bite into his pizza, the caller decided to spout words that were all too painful for him.

"Where's your motivation?"

The white-haired man almost let his pizza drop onto the floor, as the familiar words sunk into his mind. "E-excuse me? Who is this?"

"Foolishness, Dante. Foolishness."

By now, Dante was starting to become angry. "Enough with the jokes, what do you want?'

"Might controls everything. And without strength, you cannot protect anything. Let alone yourself."

That settled it for Dante. He was feeling a myriad of emotions, mostly anger and confusion. The mysterious woman on the phone had quoted things that Vergil had told him. But only he and his brother were the ones present that time. So it begs the question, who is she?

"Just who are you?" he hissed out.

"187 Hyperion Avenue. Three-story home with a front-yard and blue rooftop. Get here and I'll explain everything."

And with that, she hung up. Dante stared at the phone blankly, still registering the fact that someone knew of Vergil… The brother he had lost and killed. Morrison grew concerned and lightly shook the red-garbed man's shoulder.

"You okay there, Dante?"

"...I'm fine." He stood up and strode to the exit. "We're gonna have to cut things here short, Morrison. Need to get going. Oh, and don't tell Lady or Trish I'm back. I'll tell 'em myself."

Dante walked back to his parked motorcycle and kicked back its stun, straddling it. He activated the ignition key and began revving up his ride, as he sped off.

_"187 Hyperion Ave., huh? That's just an hour away from here. Have you been alive all this time, Vergil?"_

* * *

**_So... Hi. Welcome. This is what I've been doing for the past month. The plot bunny came to me and I couldn't help but see its fruition._**

**_Honestly, I actually had no plan of even making this, but a certain person in the Arkos Discord convinced me otherwise. And honestly, it was fun making this._** **_If the premise wasn't already painstakingly obvious, Jaune will be Nero in this. _**

**_We'll see where this leads into the future. Until the next chapter. _**


	2. My Brother's Family

**And here comes the second chap- Oh**

**Oh wow. Didn't really expect this to get at this amount of attention. Thank you!**

**Now, there's much to say, you just have to read and find out.** **By the way, the time line of the DMC events is obviously different to fit my story's narrative. It goes:**

**3 - 1 - 2**

**That's it. Only the first three games have happened. The anime and the the rest will happen in the future, so don't worry. **

**Also, I'll be using this section to answer any guest review that I may or may not get, since I can't really answer them through PMs.**

**1st Guest Review - Oh you bet I'll be continuing this. I got some maybe good ideas regarding this little story of mine. Hope you enjoy!**

**2nd Guest Review - Okay, first of; Thank you for the first part of your review. I hadn't realized that bit. Yes, Marie and Nera are one of the same. Marie was her prototype name, but somehow I missed it in the editing process, so thank you for bringing that up.**

**As for why he only has five sisters instead of seven? Well, I thought it was a bit too big for me because they're not really gonna make that many appearances, so it doesn't matter that much, but it could change in the future. That, and I didn't want to make any of the Devil May Cry characters older than what they are.**

**And to the rest of your review... I'm gonna have to decline. Because if the first chapter wasn't already a dead giveaway, Jaune is Nero, so most of his abilities will be based on Nero's. Although I will admit, some of them are quite good and I might consider them, but I'm not too sure. I like your enthusiasm though.**

**Oh, and future references, I am a guy.**

**And that's everything that's needed to be addressed. Read on. **

* * *

Dante roamed around, trying to find the house that held the answers he needed. Just who was that woman and how did she know Vergil? Soon enough, he'll know… He just had to get to the house first. And as much as he hated to admit it, he was lost.

The white-haired man shook his head as crossed the green light, scouring the area to locate his destination. But evidently, he couldn't find it. Because he forgot the description given to him. The only thing he remembered was the house number.

Luckily for him, he saw a policeman and approached him for directions.

"Hey, officer. You wouldn't happen to know where 187 Hyperion Avenue is, would you?"

"Oh, that's easy." said the policeman. He pointed right at the Victorian-styled house, looking very much like a castle. "Right over there. That house belongs to Jeanne Arc. Our very own Angel of Terror. Too bad she retired from the business to start up a restaurant. Oh well. You drive safely now."

Dante grunted in gratitude and drove up to the large house with a sizable amount for a front yard. _"Quite the house there, Vergil. You been living stylishly. Should've known."_

As he came near, he noticed three people talking at the front. Two had pure red hair, while the other had golden blonde. If Dante were to wager a guess, she was Jeanne. The two redheads were obviously married. Their body languages and the the rings on their fingers suggested as such.

The male had wild, untamed hair, similar to that of a lion's mane. He had a muscular physique and was pretty tall, about seven feet. Dante could spot a couple of scars, obvious signs that the man was a warrior that had engaged in numerous fights. He sported a simple crimson v-neck shirt, along with a sleeveless vest with a long tailcoat, an insignia embroidered on the back and white wrist wraps. He wore black pants, with the design of a lion on the right leg, green straps and boots that resembled that of a samurai's.

The woman, compared to her hulk of a husband, was a pretty short, only reaching up to his chest. And to contrast him, she looked the absolute opposite to him. She had flawless skin, no wrinkles that Dante could see, red hair tied up in a bun and held by a circlet. She wore simple civilian clothes, with an apron over it.

"If there's anything we can help you with-" started the female redhead.

"It's fine." cut in Jeanne, a sad smile gracing her lips. "I wouldn't want to pry. Jaune did what he thought was right."

"The offer still stands, though." assured the male. "For saving our darling daughter, we are deeply indebted to you. For now, we hope we're not impeding by letting Pyrrha stay here."

Jeanne shook her head, the sadness never disappearing. "It's quite alright. She's quite welcome here as many times as she would like. Besides, Jaune needs her friendship. It was nice talking to you, Mr. and Mrs. Nikos. And thank you for the cookies earlier."

Husband and wife smiled and bowed at the Arc matriarch, then left. Jeanne sighed before lifting her head up, staring at Dante.

"You came."

The Devil Hunter turned off his motorcycle and disembarked. "Of course I did. Some random person just called me and started quoting my dead brother. Excuse me if I'm feeling a bit curious."

He grabbed a hold of his helmet and lifted it off, letting the blonde see his face. The expression on Jeanne grew somber as she looked at Dante's face.

"You really do look like him."

"That should be a given. If he ever told you about me, he and I are twins.

Jeanne opened up the door to her home, gesturing for Dante to enter. "Come. We've much to discuss."

"That we do."

* * *

Dante was pretty impressed with the house itself. The interior decorating was far superior compared to his, and it felt more comforting and inviting.

_"Probably because of the lack of demon skulls on the wall." _he mused to himself.

His eyes fell on to a picture frame, making him curious. He walked up to it and picked it up. His brows shot up in surprise at the photo.

It was a family picture. At the center sat Jeanne and Vergil, holding each other's hands as the latter held a baby less than six months old, while five girls, all with golden blonde hair, surrounded them with wide smiles. What surprised him wasn't the fact that his brother had children. It was the fact that he was smiling quite openly.

Dante couldn't even remember a time when Vergil smiled. The way he showed his happiness was quite skewed. Only a tiny smirk to display his amusement, even back then. For there to be physical proof that he was openly smiling, it made Dante glad that under his brother's lust for power, he still had his humanity.

"That was almost a decade ago." spoke up Jeanne. She smiled at the memory. "You wouldn't believe how jittery he was before we took that photo. It took one coo from his son to calm him down and make him smile."

The red-garbed man stepped back. "Just what exactly are you to Vergil?"

Jeanne spun around. Dante gasped silently as he looked at the mark on her back. The mark was a blue rose surrounded by feathered wings. If it wasn't already obvious to him earlier, it was now.

"I'm the mother to his children. His wife."

The Son of Sparda's sullen look lightly disappeared, replaced with a small smile. "I guess that means you're my sister in-law then." But then his smile disappeared as he drew out his guns, Ebony and Ivory, aiming them at her. "So then, sis. Mind telling me all about your nephilim blood?"

Jeanne didn't even flinch, staring down Dante. "I was wondering when you'd bring that up. Yes, I am a nephilim. What of it?"

"Just curious." answered Dante. "Me and Vergil are freaks of nature after all. Being children to the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda. And since you're half-angel, I'm wondering why you don't automatically hate us."

The mother tilted her head. "It's simple. You did nothing wrong. Other than that, I wasn't raised to adhere to religion because my mother was a fallen angel. She was cast out of Heaven because she fell in love with my father. She never sought to redeem herself and remained a mortal…before she was called upon out of desperation because of an on-going war. She was forced to comply. Nonetheless, she regained her powers and after the war, she was allowed to stay, and here I am."

Dante remained silent before holstering his guns and apologized. "I misjudged you. Guess I let the stereotypes get to me. So, shall we get to story-telling?"

Jeanne smiled and led him to the living room. While Dante sat on the recliner, Jeanne sat across him, on the couch. She gestured to a plate of chocolate chip cookies, inviting the man to take one.

"Sure, wouldn't mind one." He grabbed one and bit into it, chewing softly. "These are good. Where did they come from?"

"Well, I'm sure you saw earlier, I was talking to two people. They were the parents of a child that my son saved. Coincidentally, we just live a few blocks apart and they came here to thank us and to drop their daughter off to play with my son. They're upstairs right now."

Dante nodded. He swallowed the cookie and leaned in. "So, mind telling me all about my nieces and nephew?"

"Very well. Our eldest is Noir. A bit of a perfectionist, but a responsible older sister. She wanted to be different from us so she joined the military. But when she's off-duty, I'm sure you and her would get along. Just as long as you give her sundaes."

Dante smirked, leaning back into the recliner. "Well, that's a bonding activity. Sundaes are a bit of a favorite of mine too. Who's next?"

"Well, there's Sol and Luna. Best way to describe them is, well, they're you and Vergil, but girls. Although, there are a few key differences. One, Sol is the older twin but she's more like you, and Luna's the younger twin, but she's more akin to Vergil. I'm sure you could guess who was Vergil's favorite?"

Dante chuckled. "I can only imagine. I'd like to meet them some time. Actually, now that I think about it, where are your kids?"

"They're all out, aside from my son. Noir's off to get her weapon checked. Sol and Luna are back in Haven, they're training to be Huntresses. Now, Saphron, she's like the typical sister, teasing but caring and love. She took a shine in writing stories when Vergil took her to a library one time. She's off in a seminar."

The Devil Hunter nodded, and leaned in. "So, only two left, right?" asked Dante.

He was certainly surprised as Jeanne lowered her head, her expression shifting for a slight moment to that of extreme grief. Dante's face grew somber, realizing what it implied.

"She's dead, isn't she?"

Jeanne bit back the tears that dared swelled up in her eyes and composed herself. "Yes. That's partly the reason why I called you, actually. A week ago, we were attacked by demons. My son was separated from us and Nera made it her duty to find him. When I found them, Nera was dead, and Jaune was protecting a friend of his with a new arm."

Jeanne pulled out a photo and handed it over to Dante. The picture was that of Jaune's new arm, getting Dante's complete interest. He took it and inspected with intrigue.

"From what I gathered, he grew out that arm. After we killed the demons, I found a severed arm, matching Jaune's. Possibly, seeing his sister's death, and having a great amount of desire to protect and survive forcibly unlocked his demonic heritage."

Dante nodded in agreement. "Yeah. From the looks of it, his arm looks like it's stuck in its Devil Trigger state."

He raised his own arm up and in a flicker of lightning, it became demonic. Devil Trigger, a transformation that taps in to his demonic heritage, allowing one to turn into a demonic form. Every attribute of theirs is increased hundred fold.

Dante willed it away, allowing Jeanne to continue.

"Unfortunately, I don't know how to help him. Vergil insisted that he would be the one to train our children in combat, while I provided anything else that he didn't cover."

The Second Son then posed a question. "So why not get Vergil? Why call me?"

"Because Vergil completely dropped off years ago. A day before Jaune's first birthday, he just vanished. No note, no explanation. Nothing. The only thing I know is that he's alive, because of my mark but I don't know enough to sense where he is. He's deliberately blocking me out."

"I see." he said. "Well, I guess a better fill in for my big brother. I'll train him. But, can we start tomorrow? There's something I need to do later first."

Jeanne nodded. "That's alright. I'm in no hurry. Will you be staying for lunch?"

Dante shook his head. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense. We're family. It's only natural we take care of one another." She stood up and headed for the door. "Make yourself at home. I'll be going to the grocery to a grab a few things to cook."

Dante wordlessly nodded as Jeanne left. He got up from the chair and headed towards the kitchen, needing a drink. When he entered, he was met with the most extravagant cooking place he had ever seen. It looked like the kitchen of a five-star restaurant. He could only whistle in amazement.

"Wow. Guess that police officer wasn't kidding when he said she was a chef."

He approached the fridge and opened it up. He scanned the contents until he spotted a can of root beer. He muttered, "Jackpot' and grabbed the soda and closed the fridge.

Dante blinked, as he was now face to face with a kid that scarily resembled him, except he had golden tipped hair. The child's face contorted into surprise, before it turned to that of fury.

"You!"

* * *

**Earlier - Upstairs**

Jaune stare idly at his new arm, ignorant of everything else around him. Even after a week had passed, he still couldn't believe that Nera died, and he lost then got a new arm. His arm was now a constant reminder of what hell he went through, and what cost he had to lose for his life to change.

Beside him sat Pyrrha, looking at him in concern. Her parents dropped her off here to hang out with her new friend. But when she came here, he didn't even notice that she entered, nor when she sat next to him.

She looked at his arm, not at all bothered by it. Why would she? Jaune used it to save her. Sure she was a bit scared a week ago, but now she wasn't. A little weird, but nothing to be afraid of.

Pyrrha thought of an idea to get Jaune's mind off whatever he was thinking of. She crawled up behind him and gently wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face against the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry."

Jaune snapped back to reality, feeling Pyrrha's embrace. He turned around, looking at her in confusion.

"Pyrrha, you've nothing to be sorry for. In fact, I'm the one who should be saying that. You got dragged in because of me."

The redhead shook her head. "That doesn't matter! If only I wasn't useless, you wouldn't have had to push me out of the way and get your arm cut off."

"But, we're kids, Pyrrha.." he argued. "We couldn't have done anything against them… I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough."

"No, I'm the one who's sorry."

"No, I'm sorry."

The two of them looked at each other, having said it at the same time. The two of them then broke out in laughter. Whatever sadness they were feeling earlier were now washed away, as they smiled.

"So… I have a Game Station console. Do you wanna play?"

Pyrrha tapped her chin in thought, before smirking. "You got Aura Combat?"

Jaune pulled out said game, smirking back right at her. "Prepare to get your butt kicked!"

A couple of matches later...

"How are you so good?!" exclaimed Jaune as he watched his character get beaten. For the fourth time.

Pyrrha shrugged, a smug little grin on her face. This made Jaune grumble a little. Something about still not being used to his new arm. But despite that, he couldn't help but smile at the time he was having. Usually, he would play all by himself. Most of his sisters didn't really like video games, except for Sol or Nera…

Jaune's smile turned sad, remembering the fun he and his sister would have, playing games all day, trying to beat them all in one go. He shook his head, snapping himself out of his sadness.

This was supposed to be a time for fun, not a time for sadness.

A grin spread through his face as he finally managed to beat Pyrrha. He shot up, cheering in excitement. The redhead sighed before clapping for her friend, a congratulating smile on her lips.

"Well done, Jaune. That was quite the impressive move, parrying my Super."

Jaune rubbed his head in embarrassment, not used to being praised. "Thanks. I just remembered that your character's DM could be parried at the right time, and I took the opportunity. Anyway, you want a drink?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes, please. Do you have orange juice?"

"I think so, yeah. I'll be back."

Jaune went out his room and headed for the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks, seeing some random person raid their fridge. He was about to shout at him to leave, until the guy closed the fridge, revealing his face.

The Lone Son stepped back, shock overcoming his expression as he looked at the man before him. It was his father. His shock was completely overridden by fury as he barely snarled out one word.

"You!"

* * *

**Back to the Present**

Dante could practically feel the anger that Jaune was exuding. It was so thick, he could probably slice it in half. That, and his eyes turning red was pretty obvious. Before he could say a word, the child charged with surprising speed and decked him across the face, launching him into the living room. Dante groaned as he held his face, a bit amazed at the power behind Jaune's punch.

"Ow, that hurt."

Jaune burst out and struck the Devil Hunter once again, creating a small-sized crater on the poor floor. But he didn't care, he just wanted to beat up the man who he assumed was his father. The Lone Son roared and started pummeling Dante's face rapidly, growling like a beast.

The Son of Sparda did nothing, and merely allowed it to happen. He could feel the hatred ooze out of Jaune. He could understand because it was how he used to feel about his own father. Dante really wanted to beat up his own father for leaving them when they were young, but as time passed, he realized that Sparda had his reasons, and Vergil must be the same.

Dante occasionally flickered his arm to his Devil Trigger, if only to accelerate his healing. Because seriously, the kid's punches hurt a lot.

Back upstairs, Pyrrha was starting to get worried that Jaune still wasn't back yet. She got up and went down to check up on him. The redhead gasped in shock as she saw her friend straddling someone as he repeatedly pounded them.

"Jaune!" she let out in slight surprise.

Jaune blinked and his eyes fading back to blue, his arm coming to a halt as Pyrrha's voice reached him. Dante quickly capitalized on the situation and flipped him onto his back while he was distracted and stepped on his arm, only applying enough force so he couldn't use it.

Pyrrha grew fearful and was about to run away to get help, when Dante held up his hand in faux surrender, to show that he meant no harm. This lightly placated Pyrrha, allowing him to turn his attention back to Jaune.

"You cooled off yet, kid? I know why you're angry, and that you did what you did. But I'm not your old man. I'm your uncle."

Jaune looked at his supposed uncle in surprise, shock overcoming. "You're…my uncle?"

Dante nodded in affirmation. "Yeah. Your father's my twin. That's why we look alike." He pulled his foot off and extended an arm to help his nephew up.

Jaune accepted and pulled himself up. He decided that the floor looked more interesting to look at, but nonetheless, he apologized.

"I'm sorry. I… It's just-"

"I know that feeling. Don't worry, I understand."

Jeanne then came back, carrying a handful of groceries. She looked at the state her son was in and then at the living room. The blonde mother sighed, shaking her head.

"I should've expected that this was how he was gonna react. Jaune, go and clean yourself up. Pyrrha, would you be a dear and help me cook? And Dante, explain."

The three of them nodded. Jaune headed for the stairs, while the others went to the kitchen.

* * *

Hours passed by with the evening approaching. Dante leaned against the wall as he watched Jaune waved goodbye to Pyrrha, who waved back as the car she was in drove off. With no interruptions, he pushed himself off and walked up to his nephew.

"So Jaune, tell me - what would you do if I told you that I'll be training you to become stronger?"

The former blond looked up to him, surprise and excitement displayed on his face. "Really?"

Dante nodded. "That's right. But first, do you know of the tale of the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda?"

"Sparda?" parroted Jaune. "Not much. I heard stories from my sister, Luna. The general thing about him is that he was a demon general under some guy called Mundus before he decided to betray his fellow brethren for humans and Faunus and fought them off and sealed his home world, staying here in Remnant. That's all."

"Well, that about sums him up." nodded Dante. "You see, Sparda's my old man."

Jaune's eyes bugged out, staring at his uncle in disbelief. "Wait, that would mean-!"

"That's right. You're his grandson." A frown overcame his face, becoming serious. "And that's the big reason why you were attacked a weak ago. Because dear old dad betrayed the demons, he's the most hated one there is because of his actions. And that hatred is passed down to anyone who shares his blood."

Dante placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder, looking at him straight in the eye.

"And because of this, your mother called me to train you. With Vergil off to who knows where, it falls to me to help you control your demonic powers. But just because you're a kid and my nephew doesn't mean I'll pull any punches. Training will be grueling, hellish, and it'll make you wish you were dead."

This made Jaune greatly reconsider. But, then his mind wandered towards back to the times he was pushed around, helpless against everything. Then to just a week ago, how weak he was until he got his new arm. The power that coursed through him… It felt good. Liberating, even. But most importantly, it gave him purpose.

He looked at Dante, determination burning in his eyes.

"It doesn't matter. I don't wanna be weak anymore. I'll go through hell if it means getting power to protect those I care about! I'll take on whatever you got, I can take it. I don't want to be useless anymore!"

Dante's eyes slightly widened as he could practically see Vergil standing beside his son. He closed his eyes as he mused to himself.

_"Guess you inherited quite a lot from your old man, kid."_ He crossed his arms and smirked. "If that's what you want, kid. Once we've started, there's no going back."

Jaune fiercely nodded. Dante smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Get ready. We start tomorrow. I'll pick you up at 6AM sharp. So you better get a lot of shut eye." he said as he walked out.

Jaune watched as his uncle closed the door, leaving him alone to ponder. Tomorrow will be a new beginning for him. He will change for the better, and become strong enough that he didn't have to be protected nor saved anymore.

* * *

**Back at Devil May Cry**

Dante plopped onto his chair and sighed in content. Fortunately, Morrison was feeling charitable and left him a box of pizza, but it wasn't gonna be enough. He pulled the drawer on his desk, revealing his personal Scroll. He picked it up and speed dialed a number.

"Hey. Yeah. No, I was just off in a business trip. That's right. I'll need ten of my usual, and no olives and be sure to make it a large. Alright."

He hung up and headed upstairs, to the library he had that he barely visited. He sighed and walked up to his one of the shelves, plucking out books pertaining to anything demon.

"This is gonna take me all night, but I'm gonna need all of this just to be sure. It's a good thing I don't really need that much sleep."


	3. Let's Get to Training

**This is gonna be the last chapter that I'll be posting for 2019. See you all next ****year**.

**H****appy New Year! **

* * *

Jaune rubbed his eyes, stifling a yawn as he held onto his uncle with one hand. The two of them were on a motorcycle, heading towards their destination. Dante did not joke when he said he would come pick him up at 6 am sharp. He barely had a good night sleep because of the excitement that he felt because he was gonna start training.

Eventually, the motorcycle skid to a halt, stopping at a junk yard with a small lake just beside it. Dante lightly shook his nephew, waking him up.

"Kid, we're here."

This time, Jaune couldn't stifle his yawn as he rubbed his eyes open. He scanned his surroundings and lightly frowned. "Um, Uncle Dante, why are we at the junk yard?"

Dante smiled and got off his ride. "That's pretty simple, kid. It's because this is the perfect place for your training. Some local gym ain't gonna cut it. With here, we can test your strength and not worry about having to pay for anything if we destroy it."

Jaune's mouth formed an 'o' and nodded in understanding. The Legendary Devil Hunter pointed right at a broken fridge, and ordered Jaune to punch it as hard as he could. The former blond looked at his uncle incredulously.

"What?!" he shouted out. "Are you kidding me? That's freaking huge!"

"What? Killing demons and punching me were way easier?"

The Arc spluttered, trying to defend himself. "B-but that's because you're not made out of metal!"

Dante just smirked and pointed at the fridge again. "Kid, trust me. You can break that fridge easy. Hell, I bet you can do it in one punch. Just try it."

Having no other choice, Jaune complied and walked up to the broken fridge. He cocked back his hand and punched it with all he had… Which was a bit too much as the already broken kitchen appliance was sent flying back before blowing up. Jaune looked at the remains with wide eyes, in disbelief that he just did that. Meanwhile, Dante shook his head as he snickered to himself.

_"Huh. Didn't think it'd be that powerful. Guess the exposure to his demonic heritage really boosted his strength. Good. But what does it say about his other aspects?"_

Dante walked up to his nephew and clasped his shoulder, snapping him out of his shock. Jaune looked back and forth from his uncle then to the charred remains, still processing what he did.

"That just happened, right?"

"He he heh. Kid, believe me, it did. Good, I was a bit worried that you weren't gonna be able to do it. But it looks like we don't have to worry about your strength for the time being. Let's move on to the next part of your training - exercise. I'm sure you know the basic exercises, right? Push ups, curl ups, jumping jacks and whatnot?"

Jaune nodded, making Dante grunt and look at him with a serious expression.

"Good. Do each of those exercises 100 times."

The Lone Son reeled back in shock, looking at his uncle in horror. "What?! Uncle Dante, are you sure I can even do all of that? I'm just a kid My arms gonna fall off!"

The Legendary Devil Hunter shook his head, remaining firm. "I warned you, kid. Training's gonna be tough and gruelling. If you wanna back out now, you can still do it. But, you won't ever get stronger. You'll remain weak. Pathetic and useless. You'll be nothing…but deadweight."

Out of everything Dante said, one word stuck out the most. Deadweight... He didn't want to be that. He wanted to be above it. Strong. Capable. Useful. Anything that wasn't it. He looked at his demonic arm and tightly clenched it, his eyes now burning with determination.

The drive that he had yesterday intensified as he dropped onto the ground and started doing push ups. Dante stepped back and watched with a smile. Sure, he was a bit harsh on his words, but it had to be done. He had to motivate Jaune.

What better way then to bring up his weakness to remind him of why he needed it? Dante jumped and landed on top of a pile of rubble, sitting down as he continued to watch his nephew.

* * *

**Some time later**

Jaune panted as he fell to his knees, drenched in sweat. He had just finished his 100 push ups, curls up, sit ups, pull ups, jumping jacks and squats. Dante didn't give him any sort of reprieve when he reached his goal and demanded he moved on to the next exercise.

Said cambion dropped down from his position and walked up to him, handing over a bottle of water. Jaune took it and started gulping down the liquid. Once he had his fill, he sighed in contentment and screwed back the cap.

"So," Jaune started. "What's next?"

Dante took back the water bottle and gave his next instructions. "Well, we covered your endurance. Now how about your stamina?" He pulled out a red flag and impaled it in the ground. "This is your starting and end point. I need you to circle around the entire junk yard, 50 times. No breaks, because if I see you do, you're gonna do it all over again."

Jaune bit back whatever complaint he had. It wasn't gonna make any difference, and he was the one to ask for this, and so, he started running.

The red-garbed hunter jumped onto the roof of the slightly rundown warehouse, giving him a good vantage point to view Jaune's progress. He took out his Scroll and opened up the Clock app, and began timing the former blond.

Despite the slight ache that he was starting to feel in his body, Jaune pushed himself and kept on running. A few times, he would stumble because of some rubble or part of the road was broken. But he didn't let this deter him and focused.

He had just to keep in mind the personal stake in all of this. Whining and moaning won't ever bring back his dead sister. It won't change anything. It won't make him strong. He had to take action and grow. For him, for his family…and maybe, for Pyrrha too.

"You're doing good, kid!" shouted out Dante. "You're already about half-way done!"

Jaune blinked, not believing his uncle. _"How the heck did time fly so qui-"_

Unfortunately for him, his musing costed him as he tripped on a piece of junk. Jaune yelped as his face planted into the dirt. Dante shook his head in faux disappointment as his nephew pushed himself up.

"Sorry, kid. But that counts as a break. You're gonna have to go all the way back to zero."

"ARE YOU FRICKING KIDDING ME?!"

* * *

**FIFTY HELLISH LAPS LATER**

Jaune lay on the ground, having abandoned his jacket as he desperately tried to take in air. Dante slowly approached him as he looked at his Scroll in one hand, a plate of sliced oranges on the other.

"Not bad, kid. It took you about four and a half hours, which is sorta average, but still good."

Jaune said nothing as he snatched the orange slices out of Dante's hands, helping himself to the citrus fruit. The Son of Sparda sat down next to him, giving him a congratulatory smile.

"You're progressing pretty well, kid. A normal person would've given up by now. Luckily, us descendants of Sparda are pretty stubborn and resilient. That, and our demonic heritage gives us a leg up on the others. We're much more stronger, faster, and not to sound arrogant, way better than them. But, that's just how it is."

Dante stood up and checked the time - 1:27 pm. He walked up to his motorcycle and got on. He waited for Jaune to move, except he remained on the floor. Dante got off and went to his nephew to see that he had fallen asleep. The Legendary Devil Hunter couldn't help but smile. He gently picked him and carried him towards his bike.

But now he was placed with a dilemma - how the hell was he gonna take the kid back to his house on his motorcycle, without him falling off? Dante set him down next to it and got to thinking. He looked around the junk yard, trying to see if there was something that could be of use.

His eyes then fell upon a sidecar. It was a bit banged up and scratched, but still perfectly usable. And luckily for him, he could attach it to his bike.

Dante quickly attached the sidecar to his motorcycle, making sure everything was screwed in tightly. Fortunately, the seat was just stained and nothing too bad. But just to be sure, he pulled out a long cloth and draped it over the seat.

Once he was done, he picked up his nephew once again and placed him into the sidecar. Dante took off his coat and placed it over Jaune, just so he wouldn't get sick.

And with that, he finally ignited his ride and drove off.

* * *

**Ten months later**

During the past months, training was hellish for Jaune. Sure, it pretty much involved doing the same thing over and over again, but Dante somehow found ways to make things harder.

When he did push ups, Dante would sometimes sit on him or put heavy objects on his back. And his running exercise would get turned into a dodge session. His sadistic uncle would grab some of the junk around him and start throwing at him like a madman. At times, he'd get hit and be forced to do it all over again with either a new bruise or a bump on his head. Other times, it would motivate him to run much faster.

Unfortunately, the near-by lake was a no littering zone, and Dante would have him take out every piece of junk that ended up there…which was a lot, because his uncle would purposely miss just to make it more difficult for him.

Then there were the times he had to break at least one item inside of the junk yard. But it had to be way above his weight. So, he ended up destroying quite a few broken cars and a few kitchen appliances.

Of course, he didn't train all the time. He'd get at least one day of reprieve every once a week. Either because Dante had a job to do, or if Jeanne insisted so he could hang/play with Pyrrha. If it was the latter, Dante would agree with no sort of question, understanding it because it allows Jaune to humanize and form bonds.

Luckily, he didn't easily ache and recovered more faster than a regular person due to his demonic heritage. After a good night's rest and he was raring to go once again.

Currently, Jaune was sitting on top of a rusting, old car, waiting for Dante to show up. As he did, Jaune couldn't help but look at himself, staring into his reflection in the river.

In his ten months of intense training, he had lost a substantial amount of his baby fat, his muscles slowly starting to come to life and became a bit noticeable. Compared to back then when he had noodle-like limbs, he was like a bodybuilder now.

The silver-haired Arc hummed to himself, wondering what will be the next part to his training. Suddenly, he felt himself break into a cold sweat, a dreadful feeling crawling up his back. Not only that, but his arm was glowing.

_"W-What is this? This…feeling. It's almost like-" _Jaune's eyes widened, his conclusion terrifying him. _"Like that day…months ago when the demons attacked!"_

Jaune pushed himself off the car and looked around apprehensively, fear flooding his body. He unconsciously gulped, clenching his fist tightly as he awaited the demon.

**"That's good. Guess you can sense me then, huh?"**

Jaune blinked, hearing the familiar voice despite being warped and echoed coming from the warehouse. "Uncle Dante?"

Out of the abandoned warehouse came a demon, yet its overall appearance looked human-like. The demon was reptilian-like, scales covering most of the body, both hands and feet clawed. A crack is present on the chest, giving off a fiery glow. And to top it off, the demon wore something akin to a coat.

Jaune took a step back, still feeling fear, making Dante rub the back of his head sheepishly.

**"Maybe I should have handled and showed this differently, huh?"**

In a flash of lightning, Dante switched back into a human, making Jaune relax. He straightened himself out and glared at his uncle.

"What the heck, Uncle D?! You scared me, I thought there was a demon out there!"

The Legendary Devil Hunter sent him an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, kid. I needed to see if you could sense out demons. Granted, I did flash a bit of my powers. Only a small margin though, but you still traced me."

The nine year old ceased his glare and sighed. "Well, next time, how about a little warning? What even was that?"

"That, was the Devil Trigger. Because we're part demons, we can basically shed our human forms and turn into a devil, accessing our inner supernatural potential. We get a lot of perks, like faster healing, greater strength, speed, etc. It's kinda like a second skin.s Like that arm of yours. How does it feel, by the way?"

Jaune blinked at the question. Now that he thought about it, it didn't really feel all that different from his old arm. It felt…normal.

"To be honest, it's like a regular arm. I don't feel anything weird, like the scales. By the way, what's next in our training?"

Dante smirked and held out his hand. Jaune was about to ask what he was doing until it flickered back into his earlier demon form. A few seconds later he willed back away, now gaining the child's interest.

"I'd say we've built your body just above the average requirement so it can handle your demonic powers. So now, we move on to how you can actually use it. Tell me, kid; did you feel any sort of sensation when you first used your powers?"

Jaune looked down in thought, trying to think back to the painful memory. Dante noticed his face scrunch up in pain. He put his hand over his shoulder, assuring him that they could find another way.

"No no. It's… It's fine."

"If you're sure… So, how did you feel?"

"I'm not too sure. It was like, I was in the middle of the cold, and I was shivering until my powers came, and all of a sudden a fire came and warmed me up… Does that make sense?"

The older cambion rubbed his chin and looked at his nephew. "Try feeling out that flame again. Close your eyes, then clear your mind. And when you do, try to emulate the feeling and pull it out, then the rest should go along smoothly."

Jaune nodded and did as his uncle had told him. He sat down cross-legged and tried to replicate the sensation. Meanwhile, Dante snacked on some pizza he had picked up on the way, watching in amusement as his nephew's face scrunch up in pure concentration.

Unfortunately, he couldn't quite get it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't replicate the feeling. After numerous attempts, it was a failure and he just ended up irritating himself.

"This is hopeless, I'm never gonna get it."

Dante swallowed his pizza and weighed his options. He thought it over before reaching his decision. "Alright, let's try this."

Then that's when Dante transformed into his Devil Trigger state. He grabbed Jaune by the leg and flew into the air. The nine year old screamed in surprise and fear as they ascended higher and higher until they were about three-stories off the ground.

Jaune looked down in horror as his uncle dangled him. "D-Dante! What are you doing?"

The devil hunter remained silent and released his grip, dropping his own nephew. The silver-haired child screamed as he began to plummet to the ground. He could practically hear his heart beat, thumping against his chest loudly.

As he neared his death, Jaune's eyes snapped open, glowing a bright red as a flash of aura enshrouded him. Through instinct, he swiveled around and threw out his arm, a spectral hand materializing and grabbing onto Dante.

The half-devil caught it, halting Jaune's descent. Dante smiled as he slowly lowered back to the ground, allowing Jaune to release his grip and jump down. He turned back into his normal form and smiled, seeing that the aura around his nephew persisted.

"That's it. Take a good feel of it, kid. Memorize it then etch it into your mind. Now, try to will it away."

Jaune closed his eyes and focused. It took him quite a while before the aura shroud dissipated and his eyes returned to its normal azure color. The Lone Son looked at his uncle then struck him in the stomach, making him keel over and fall to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Dante groaned, clutching his stomach.

"Okay, maybe I deserve that."

"Of course you do, you jerk! I could have died from that fall if that didn't work!"

Dante regained his breath and smirked through the pain. "But it did." He stood up and dusted himself. "Look, I'm sorry, kid. I had no other choice. I needed a way to stimulate your senses so you could draw out you powers, and the only way for that to happen was a life or death situation. Dropping you off from a tall height was one of the options. The second, on the other hand, is the Sparda family tradition - getting stabbed or impaled by a sword straight to the chest."

Jaune flinched, not liking the prospect of getting stabbed just yet. So, he had to concede that his uncle had a fair point.

"You're right. But still, you could have warned me."

"Trust me, kiddo. If I did, the results wouldn't have been the same. But enough of that. Now that you got a grasp on how to draw out your power, it's time that we get started. First objective - willing your arm back to normal. Wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

The Arc nodded. "Okay. So, how do I do it?"

"Just like earlier, when you dismissed that shroud of yours. Only this time, you need to focus harder, since like you said, your arm feels pretty normal. But, there should be a tiny difference that should allow you to turn your into a regular one. Try it."

Jaune closed his eyes and focused one again. He cleared out his thoughts and dove into his power. In one's perspective, they would see a blue flame, burning ever so brightly, contained in a cage. He navigated until he came across a section where he felt slight warmth. He reached out and grabbed it, pulling back with the rest of the fire.

Back outside, Dante watched in amazement as Jaune's devil arm began to dissolve, replaced by a regular arm. But that wasn't the only change, his hair gradually lost its silvery-white color and was promptly replaced by a golden blond. Dante ignored it for the moment and gave Jaune a smile of approval.

"You did it."

Jaune looked at his arm, happiness surging through him. His smile was wide as he looked at with joy. "T-This is incredible!"

"That's not the only thing you did." claimed Dante. He pulled out a mirror and held it in front of Jaune, showing him hair. "Looks like your hair color isn't permanent. It changes depending on your, I guess, form, you could call it - blond if you aren't using your demonic powers and silver if you are channeling it. And you can use it to your advantage. For one, it's great for infiltration, if needed. You can look pretty different just by the color of your hair. That, and it might be a good way to throw off your opponents. Also, you don't even need to buy hair dye."

Jaune half-listened, in awe that he could change the color of his hair. Dante was amused that the kid was fussing over his hair. He lightly bonked him on the head, getting his attention.

"Get ready, Jaune. Because now we train for real." All of a sudden, Dante got serious and looked at him with a cold expression. "The hell that you experienced ten months ago? It'll be child's play compared to what I'm about to throw at you starting today."

Jaune clenched his fists tightly and brought them up, his eyes steeled in resolve and burning with determination. "Bring it on, old man!"

Demonic energy began to dance around Dante as a wicked grin spread across his lips, making Jaune step back as he unconsciously gulped and became pale like a ghost. The Legendary Devil Hunter dispersed it and began laughing at the blond's reaction.

"Y-You, you should have seen the look on your face! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" He composed himself and smiled at his pissed nephew. "We won't be going through that type of training just yet. First, we got to cut down the time you waste when accessing your devil power?"

Jaune titled his head in confusion. "Huh? But, it only took me a couple of minutes!"

"Nope. It took you a couple of hours."

Dante fished out his Scroll and showed it to him. Jaune's eyes bugged out at the displayed time. It read '3:27 PM', which shocked him because the last time he checked, it was 9:14 AM. In other words, it took him a total of about six hours just to access and dismiss his powers.

"B-but, it didn't feel that long!" he argued. "I mean, I don't even feel hu-"

A growl coming from his stomach cut off what he was gonna say. Jaune blushed in embarrassment, as his stomach continued to ask for food. Dante just handed over the box he had eating from, which still had two slices. The Lone Son accepted it graciously and began to scarf it down.

Dante sat down, and explained. "That's how it usually is, kid. You delved deep into your inner self, your soul. That, and you were in a state of… let's say zen. In your perception, time is still the same, but on the outside, it's a bit faster. Now, that's what we'll focus on for now. Because if you take too long, boom, you're dead."

Jaune nodded and just accepted his uncle's words. "So, how are we gonna do this?'

"Simple." he said. "You just gotta repeat the process over and over again until you really get used to it. Soon enough you'll find yourself doing it pretty quickly, it's practically an instant. Assume a meditating position, if it takes too long, I'll say."

The blond obeyed his uncle's orders and sat down. He straightened himself and tried to clear out his mind, solely focusing at the power within him.

Dante sat back down and watched as Jaune slipped off into retrieving his powers again.

* * *

**Some time later**

"How has his training been?"

Jeanne puled out a contained filled with marinated chicken from her fridge as she talked with Dante, who sat at on a chair, sipping some whiskey straight from the bottle, about Jaune's progress.

"He's doing pretty well. If it fits the time frame, we'll be moving on to weapon's training. You got an ideas what weapon would fit him?"

The nephilim hummed in thought as she began to gently drop the chicken into fryer. "You should take him to Nera's room. Before she died, Nera aspired to become a weapon smith. She already made some custom-made weapons and hid it somewhere in her room. Considering how close the two were, Jaune would best know where they are. Who knows, maybe there's something he could take up there."

"I'll consider it." Dante took another swig from the bottle, groaning in satisfaction at the burning sensation in his throat. "Man, this is good. And pretty high quality too."

"Got at lot of connections, considering my status as a chef."

"Speaking of being a chef, how long have you been cooking?" asked Dante.

Jeanne shrugged as she began to cook the sauce. "Pretty much my whole life. If I wasn't training or fighting, I was cooking. Caught a master chef's eye and he personally took me under his wing then I rose up in a short amount of time, and here I am."

"I see…" Dante decided to down the whole bottle and asked a question that's been on his mind. "You guys want to come visit my office?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow at the invitation. "What brought this on?"

The Son of Sparda shrugged. "Don't really got a reason. It's just a spur of the moment type of thing. And, maybe it might be great for Jaune to get a good look at what his future job could be. He's of Sparda. There's no doubt that demons will be after him. So, why not get paid to kill the demons after you?'

The Arc Patriarch dried off the cooked buttermilk chicken and placed them in a plate, surrounded by little bowls filled with vegetables and corn. She assembled them all on to a tray.

"It is a good idea, but it's ultimately my son's decision. Could you put this on the table?"

Dante obliged and grabbed the tray from Jeanne with one hand, walking up to the dinner table.


	4. Gift That Keeps On Giving

**So, I'm still not sure if I'll a consistent update day, but I think I'll be able to update most of time during either Wednesdays or Thursdays since both days are when I don't have classes to take, luckily.**

**As for the guest review... I'm sorry to say but if you were hoping for a harem fic, turn back now. I don't really have the experience to write a fic that has a harem. I can only handle single-paired relationships. Romance isn't my Forte, so I can't really do that, unless somehow my mind changes.** **Plus, would it even make sense story wise? **

**As for the pairings, some have been finalized, others are still being decided. Though things can change.**

**That's all for this A/N. ****Read and review! **

* * *

"Wow, this place is a dump."

That was what Sol said as she and her family walked into Dante's shop. It was completely filthy and unsanitary. Numerous pizza boxes were littered around, empty bottles here and there, coupled with stains all around, and even some cobwebs. Not to mention the smell.

Jeanne shook her head in disapproval and shot a sideways glance at her brother in-law. "Monty Oum, Dante. Do you not know how to clean up after yourself?"

His only response was a sheepish smile and a shrug, making Jeanne sigh as she felt her respect for him dwindle down.

"At least tell me you have cleaning supplies, like a broom, a mop and a feather duster?"

Much to Jeanne's relief, Dante nodded. "I do. They're right upstairs, At the end of the hallway, can't miss it."

"Then what's that room?" questioned Luna. She pointed at an obvious door, with the words "**DO NOT ENTER' **crudely written in red marker.

"Not now, dear. We'll clean up first then I'm sure your uncle will be _obliged_ to tell us, right Dante?"

The younger Son of Sparda unconsciously gulped and gave them a shaky nod, very intimidated at the sudden aura that Jeanne was emanating.

_"I'm starting to see why Vergil married her."_

Noir retrieved every cleaning equipment she could find and handed them over to her mother. Jeanne put on gloves, a mask, an apron and tied a cloth over her head, her children following suit. Soon, they got started, Dante included, who was bribed with the promise of strawberry sundaes if he cooperated.

Sol and Luna worked together in getting rid of every thrash present, Noir swept the floor, Saphron handled the cobwebs, Jeanne, Jaune and Dante wiped every piece of furniture and decorations that the latter had.

In their process of cleaning, Morrison walked in, bewildered not only at the sight of Dante cleaning, but also being helped by six random strangers. The Arc family quickly assumed offensive positions, leading to the old man raising his hands in faux surrender.

"Not that I'm happy to see you finally cleaning, Dante, but who are these fine folks you've roped in to helping you?"

Dante calmed them down, walking up to the dapper man. "Whoa. Easy guys, he's a friend. Morrison, meet my sister in-law and her children. Guys, meet Morrison. He's the one who sets me up with my jobs."

The Info Broker blinked in surprise. "Excuse me? Sister in-law? I find that hard to believe, Dante. You told me your brother was dead and that you had no other family left."

Jeanne stepped up and removed her mask, offering a hand to the man. "Hello, Morrison. I'm Jeanne Arc, wife to Vergil. And the mother to his children. A pleasure to meet you."

It took him a couple of seconds before composing himself and shook the offered hand. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Mrs. Arc. My apologies for my rudeness earlier. Dante was just so sure and genuine in his words that he had no one left."

"And with good reasons too. With his pride, he wouldn't admit to the fact that he was afraid of meeting Dante again. Afraid of what his reactions would've been despite terribly missing him…"

Dante looked down, mulling over her words. Vergil was… afraid? That was something that never crossed his mind. Well, maybe when they were children. But now? No. His older brother was afraid…of how he would've reacted?

How would he have reacted if Vergil did come to him? Fearful? Ashamed? Angry?… Or glad? Glad that his brother wasn't really dead and still had his humanity?

Morrison cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "As much as I want to hear more of this, I suppose I should get going. I'll get back to you later when you finish up here, Dante. Good day, Mrs. Arc."

With a tip of a hat, Morrison left them to resume cleaning. Dante's expression didn't change, not with what he had learned from Jeanne. He dropped his rag and walked up to one of the frames hung up on his wall. But this certain one didn't have any sort of picture, instead it held a glove, with a slash mark across its palm with dried blood around it.

Noir approached her uncle, joining him in looking at the framed glove. "What exactly is the purpose of that glove, Uncle Dante?"

Dante ran his hand through his hair, as a particular memory played across his mind. "It serves as a reminder of my greatest failure… Did Vergil tell any of you of the Temen-ni-Gru?"

The eldest daughter strummed her chin in thought, trying to recall some of the stories her father told her. "Well, there was this one tale he'd sometimes tell us about a man who foolishly raised a tower that held the power of his father. His brother disagreed with the notion and they fought numerous times until the brother overcame him. He then rejected the attempt of his brother in saving him and fell into hell, the home of their father… Tell me, did any of that actually happen? Every time he told us of it, he'd admonish the man and scorn him. Was that him?"

The red-clad hunter nodded. "That's right. Vergil sought out our old man's powers and raised the main demon gate to get it. Every time we'd meet, the only thing he'd talk about was 'power this', 'power that'. Plus, he'd reject his humanity, calling it a weakness, while I did the same to my demon side. Eventually, I accepted it was just a part of who I am. Vergil, on the other hand, was still insistent on his claims."

He looked at his niece with a smile and clasped her shoulder.

"But maybe, just maybe, he finally threw away those claims and accepted his humanity when he had all of you."

With what she had discovered, Noir looked down, unsure of her uncle's words. "I sure hope so…"

* * *

**About two hours later**

Dante wiped the sweat off his face with a grunt as he took a step back to take a good look at the results. And from what he could see, only a smile and a chuckle and was the fitting answer.

His office looked absolutely spotless! There was not a speck of dust nor grime that he could see, all of his stuff looked very clean, and his demon skulls now looked intimidating. The Son of Sparda dropped the mop he was holding and crossed his arms.

"Man, this is the first time I've ever seen this place clean! It was already a dump when I first bought it… Damn, what a view."

Morrison then took the time to return, carrying with him two boxes of pizza. He whistled at the spotless office of Devil May Cry, impressed.

"Now that's a nice thing to see. Anyone care for pizza?"

The Info Broker settled down the boxes onto the desk, allowing everyone to grab a slice. Dante plopped down onto his comfortable recliner and turned his head to the dapper man.

"So, Morrison. What do you got for me?"

The man smirked as he pulled out a thick envelope, seemingly filled with stacks of Lien. "Cash up front, guard duty just for one night. If you accept, you might actually manage to reduce that debt of yours."

"Debt?" questioned Jaune as he finished his pizza slice. "Uncle Dante owes people money?"

"Drowningly so, I'm afraid." gravely confirmed Morrison. "Collateral damage, destruction of multiple properties, not to mention his fashion choices and the absurd amount of pizzas and strawberry sundaes he's ordered over the last couple of years. Plus, there's also him owing more money to his two business partners."

Dante sweat dropped as he could feel the judgemental stares all coming from his brother's family. Jeanne shook her head and fished out her Scroll. She tapped a few inputs on her device before showing the screen to Morrison.

"Will this be enough to clear him off?"

Morrison's eyes bugged out at the amount of zeros being shown to him. He was tempted to slap himself if what he saw was actually real, and instead gulped and composed himself.

"Y-yes. It's more than enough, actually."

"Jeanne, you don't have to do that." cut in Dante. "This is my problem, let me handle it."

The blonde Nephilim shook her head as she and Morrison traded bank account details. "You can't stop me, Dante. Family is important, above all else. And you, are family. You're helping us, by helping Jaune, so let me help you. "

They stared at each other for a couple of minutes, either side not relenting until Dante sighed in defeat. "Alright, you win. But where did you even get that money?"

"You can thank your brother for that. He took quite the interest in bonds and stocks, taking an interest in the stock market. Plus, with what he makes in his part-time occupation as a mercenary, it all worked out from there."

Morrions narrowed his eyes in curiosity as he leaned forward. "Tell me, did he use a pseudonym of any sorts while he worked?"

Jeanne tapped her chin in thought. "Hmm, if I recall correct, he used the name Gliver."

Everyone's eyes turned attention towards Dante, who had crushed a bottle in his hand at the name. Noir's instincts kicked in as she saw blood dripping down.

"Uncle Dante, you're bleeding!"

"Huh?" Dante looked to see that, yes, he was indeed bleeding. He waved off his niece's concern as his hand healed up. "Don't worry. It's just a flesh wound. I get stabbed on the job on a daily basis. A few shards of glass is nothing."

Jeanne and Morrison looked at him in concern, wondering why the name gave him such a reaction. The former could hear Dante mutter something along the lines of 'impossible' and 'just a coincidence'. A few minutes later, he was back to his old self.

"By the way, I'll be sure to pay you guys back. Promise."

"You can pay us back, by telling us what's inside that room." called out Sol, who pointed at the earlier door her twin took notice of.

Dante scratched the back of his head, trying to decide if she should adhere to his niece's suggestion or not. "I'm not too sure. I actually forgot what I put in there. It could be dangerous."

Luna approached the door and went to touch the door knob. She pulled back in surprise as numerous seals materialized and covered the door. The younger twin and turned to her family, voicing her opinion.

"It would seem our uncle is correct. The amount of protective seals to this entrance is staggering. I vote we forget about this and move on to another discussion."

Sol jumped her twin and wrapped her arms around her. "Ah come on! Where's your sense of adventure, sis? Worst case scenario here is that there's something dangerous inside of the room, but we have mom and Uncle D to protect us! What's the worst that could happen?"

"Well…she IS right." conceded Saphron. "At best, there's probably nothing harmful inside and it's just a bunch of memorabilia. At worst, there's something deadly that hopefully, we can all handle and kill quickly. What about you, Noir? Mom?"

Jeanne shrugged, conceding her decision to whatever got the majority vote. Noir, having to be the responsible one, crossed her arm in thought as she mulled over which to choose. Meanwhile, Jaune's curiosity got the better of him as he walked up to the door and twisted the handle, somehow bypassing the seals.

Everyone noticed a sliver too late as Jaune pushed it open. Out of the room, numerous things surged out and went into the living room, surrounding them…as they all started to talk.

**"Finally! We are free!"**

**"Indeed! We have been inside that room for a long time!"**

Dante groaned out loud as he heard the voices. He cradled his head, trying not to get a migraine. "Now I remember why I locked that door away."

Everyone looked at the plethora of strange-looking weapons as they babbled on and on about being freed, enshrouded by numerous colored aura. Jaune lightly rubbed his arm as it dimly glowed at the presence of the weapons. Jeanne's eyes widened, recognizing what the weapons were.

"You're all Devil Arms!"

At her exclamation, all of them turned their attention to Jeanne and grew apprehensive, some of them even screaming.

**"A nephilim!" **cried out the two earlier blades in unison.

**"Impossible! I thought they were all extinct?!"** shouted a sword, crackling with lightning.

**"They look strong…" **mused a pair of gauntlets with the head of dragon.

**"Hmm. How odd, they feel familiar." **voiced out the literal electric guitar.

**"It can't** **be!"** realized another pair of gauntlets, resembling a wolf.** "The children smells like that of the traitorous Sparda!"**

Dante chimed, looking a bit peeved off at the Devil Arms. "I thought I said no talking?"

At his voice, the Devil Arms stopped talking and fell down in a heap. The Legendary Devil Hunter sighed and shook his head as he approached the pile of weapons.

"What do you got to say for yourselves?"

At first, none of them uttered a word, until the twin blades cried out in unison. **"Why didn't you bring us with you to your journey to hell?"**

"Because it was a freaking cake walk. And if I had brought any of you, it would've been just a late night stroll!"

Jaune raised his hand, looking quite confused. "Um, Uncle Dante? What exactly is a Devil Arm?"

The Son of Sparda turned to his nephew and explained. "It's basically like Mega Man, except pumped full of steroids. But the better explanation for it is that Devil Arms are basically demonic sentient weapons that usually manifest from a defeated demon's soul or power. But this doesn't always happen, though, only to specific demons. Usually, out of respect or self-preservation, they turn themselves into Devil Arms. But, some of them could still be turned even if they were killed by taking their soul. They're pretty strong and durable to boot."

Sol picked up the gauntlets with the dragon head and whistled in admiration. "Guess you've amassed quite a lot, I imagine."

Dante nodded, and pointed behind him. Inside of the room, there were some stationary Devil Arms who didn't even move, hanging safely on the wall.

"That I have. Got a lot of them from some of my jobs. Honestly, I can't use all of them, no matter how many times I swap out. I've been thinking of pawning them off to a friend of mine."

The present Devil Arms shook in fear at the thought of being sold off like a cheap toy, making Dante roll his eyes and elaborating.

"Not you guys. You're all stuck with me, and I'm stuck with you. Or, actually…" A glint appearing in Dante's eyes as a great idea crossed him and pointed at his brother's family, smirking. "Stuck with them. Go on and pick out a Devil Arm, and if you can wield them safely, they're yours. Think of as a…late birthday present."

The daughters looked at Jeanne for permission, whom merely nodded. Noir went up first and went through the collection of weapons, trying to find something that fit her. That was until, her eyes fell on the twin blades that spoke earlier. They were wide, curved blades resembling a scimitar or pirate cutlass. However, rather than being plain blades, it had a serrated design that was somewhat reminiscent of a spinal cord. They're colored orange and turquoise, and on both the cutting edges of the blade segments are bare metal and the guard, grip and pommel gold. On the end of the pommels of both swords were heads, which was how they talked.

"Hmm, mind introducing yourselves to me?"

**"Oh! I am Agni."**

**"And I am Rudra!"**

**"We are brothers who can wield the element of fire."**

**"And wind! You can choose to wield us one at a time."**

**"But we work best together."**

Noir looked at them in thought before nodding. Dante quirked an eyebrow, asking his niece of her decision.

"You sure, kid? They talk. A lot. More so than me, and that's saying something."

The eldest daughter smirked. "I'll take my chances. I am not a daughter of Vergil for nothing."

Dante shrugged. "Your call, kid."

Noir stepped back, allowing Sol and Luna to go next. Being the oldest between them, Sol graciously went first and picked up the gauntlets with the dragon heads. Although, to be technical, they were more of a pair of incandescent gloves resembling those of a suit of medieval armor. Around it was a large, dark, metal dragon head with the glove between its open jaw and along the top of the dragon's head were numerous spike. Before she could ask what they were, it glowed and cut in.

**"My name is Ifrit. The fool who awakens me shall pay dearly with fires of hell."**

Sol grinned at this declaration. "Nice."

She slipped on the gauntlets and immediately felt a burning sensation as it shackled itself and began to toss around, attempting to pull off her arms as she was consumed by the flames. Sol planted her footing and resisted against the Devil Arm's attempts. Luna looked concerned for her twin and prepared to intervene, only to be stopped by Dante.

"Don't. If you cut in, then your sister's not gonna be happy. This is Ifrit's way of testing your worthiness to wield him. If you can resist his flames, then bingo. But if not, well, let's not find out, shall we?"

The younger twin relented and stood back. Sol gritted her teeth and managed to tightly clench her hands. Her eyes glowed brightly as she let out a large cry. A wave of light washed over her and it enabled her to subdue the fiery gauntlets. Ifrit was impressed and grunted in approval.

**"Impressive. You are worthy enough to use me."**

Sol grinned in victory and pumped her arm into the air. She turned to her little sister and gestured for her turn. Luna inspected every weapon in the pile, trying to find something either fit her, or dragged her attention. Unfortunately, nothing caught her eye and so, she entered the closet to take a look at the others.

Her eyes fell upon the most out of place thing she had ever seen in a array of weaponry. A pair of seemingly normal leather gloves with a strange character for shadow etched onto the palm. Dante saw her observing it and tried to remember what it could do.

"Hmm, that's called Nyx. Let's see… Think I got that from a haunted mansion. A bunch of spirits were using it. For what, I can't remember. All I can is that it was used for something annoying and powerful.

Luna grabbed it off the wall and decided to take them. She looked at Saphron, whom shook her head. "Nah, don't really feel like it. And besides, I'm not that much of a fighter. I'm still okay with using my gauntlets."

"If you're sure." said Luna. She looked at her little brother and was about to gesture for him to approach her, when Dante rose his hand.

"No, not yet. I'm sorry to say, but the kid's not ready to get a Devil Arm yet. Still need to teach him how to fight."

Jaune looked downcast at this, but understood his uncle's reasons. Jeanne patted her son's hair and pulled him in for a hug. The blond smiled into his mother's embrace, making Dante smile at the interaction.

Noir made a few practice swings, along with Sol, getting a feel of their new weapons. Meanwhile, Luna looked at the gloves with intensity, trying to see if she could sense something out of it.

Morrison coughed, getting the attention on him again. "You know, a normal training area isn't gonna cut it with Devil Arms. You're gonna need something better and secluded for them."

Dante smirked. "Don't worry, Morrison. I already got that covered."

The red-clad devil hunter pulled out a black-colored sphere from behind him. He twirled it around his finger before smashing it on the floor. Before anyone could react, the black seeped out and swiftly engulfed them.

The seven of them landed onto a lightly watery surface. The strange place seemed to extend far beyond, as if endless. The sky was like something you would see in the vast reaches of space in fiction, accompanied by something akin to an eclipsed sun.

Dante smiled and gestured around. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Void. A little something I picked up during my stay in Hell. It's a special dimension that's pretty far and can be used for training."

Confused by this, Sol asked for clarification. "Wait… Training? But there's nothing here." to emphasize this, she waved her arms around the vastly empty space.

With the flick of a finger, a menu akin to something from a video game slid towards Dante, greatly surprising everyone. He made inputs onto it before tapping confirm. Out of nowhere, a group of strange creatures materialized and stood motionless. They were pitch-black, featureless shadows in the shape of wolves, with red eyes and jaws.

These were a species of Grimm, more specifically, the Beowulf. Seeing everyone's reaction at the appearance of a Grimm, he couldn't help but smile as that was how he had reacted the first time he used the dimension.

"Voila! Training dummies to be used. The Void is kinda used more for training yourself how to use a weapon. Think of a tutorial stage in an RPG, except you can control the enemies and even spawn them in. Go ahead, they won't bite unless I make them to."

Noir nodded and stepped forward. She tightly gripped Agni and Rudra and charged at the motionless Grimm. She hit the pack with two separate strikes before holding the two blades together by the pommel and swung them around in a circular motion before ending it in a cross-slash, killing the Beowulf pack.

Dante then summoned more. This time, it was the armored versions. Noir grunted and swung twice, before shifting her speed to frantic strikes, mowing the Grimm Wolves down until only one was left. The eldest daughter front flipped and ended it in a overhead slash as both fire and wind erupted from the blades, incinerating the poor Beowulf.

"Give me more." she demanded. And he obliged, this time, spawning an Alpha Beowulf, being bigger and having more armor and spikes on its body.

Noir smirked cruelly as wind and fire enshrouded Agni and Rudra and she launched the Alpha into the air. She jumped after it and struck it numerous times in the chest. She joined the blades by the pummel once again and spun it around in an arc, shredding the Beowolf and pushed it back. She charged up each blade's respective element with a grunt before sending them out. First came the flames, before it was engulfed by the wind and grew bigger, burning the Grimm to nothing but ash.

Noir landed down and ended things with a flourish. Both Agni and Rudra grunted in admiration of their new wielder's skills.

**"Impressive."**

The spectators thought so as well. All of them began to clap at Noir's demonstration, whom took it with a graceful bow as she placed the Devil Arms away. Sol stepped up and cracked her knuckles.

"Guess I'm up. Give me something harder, okay Uncle D?"

Dante shrugged, before getting the idea of passing the menu towards Luna. The younger twin looked at their father's brother with a quirked eyebrow.

"I'm sure there are times where you two argued over some things, but she got them most of the times because she was older than you. Maybe you want… some payback?"

Luna looked down and remained silent because Dante was right. And it happened quite a lot. Ranging from their holiday presents, who gets the larger slice of the birthday cake, who gets to use the bathroom first, the toys, the clothes and even their hair! But the worst offender for her was that time she was given a hair pin by Vergil that Sol 'borrowed'. Surprise surprise, she didn't give it back.

A devious smirk crossed the more refined twin and madly tapped away on the menu, which started to scare Jaune and Saphron. Sol was unaware of this happening and just patiently waited for the test dummies. Finally, the 'test dummy' materialized…and it was a gigantic Beringel. About twenty feet.

Sol's eyes shrunk as her skin began to turn more pale than usual. When the Grimm began to beat its chest like an ape, the older twin unconsciously gulped loudly, making Luna silently laugh. She took in deep breaths as she tried to compose her posture, muttering a mantra of encouragement to herself.

"You're strong now. It can't hurt you anymore. The bad monkeys can't mess with you this time. You're strong now. It can't hurt you anymore. The bad monkeys can't mess with you this time. You're strong now. It can't hurt you anymore. The bad monkeys can't mess with you this time."

Dante looked at an Jeanne, searching for an explanation.

"We were visiting the local zoo, we hadn't made Jaune yet at the time. Sol's curiosity got the better of her and she accidentally fell into a habitat. Unfortunately, it was also home to the silver-back ape and it perceived Sol as an intruder. Long story short, she ended up traumatized by the entire ordeal but refuses to submit herself to therapy so now, she has a fear of everything simian."

The Legendary Devil Hunter flinched. "Oof. I can only imagine how Vergil reacted."

Jeanne made a sidewards glance, her eyes glinting in amusement. "Let's just say we got a brand new rug for the living room that day."

Dante sweat dropped at that. _"Monty Oum, bro. Seriously? Guess he's a mother hen type of parent, huh? But honestly, I can't blame him."_

He shook himself out and focused back on his niece. Sol managed to compose herself, no longer shaking. She took in a deep breath, clenching her fist tightly as she slipped into a stance. She jumped up into the air, coated in fire.

Sol flipped herself into a dive kick, striking the Beringal in the chest, slightly pushing it back. She kicked herself back, before dropping down and punching the ground, a wall of fire erupting around her, setting the large ape aflame but also launching it into the air.

As it slowly fell, Sol cocked back her fist and charged up Ifrit. As the Beringal grew closer, she unleashed the attack in the form of an uppercut coated in magma.

**"MAGMA DRIVE!"**

The attack very much obliterated the Grimm Ape as it blew up into numerous pieces, before it all disintegrated to ash. Sol looked at her new gauntlets and grinned at its power.

"Thanks, partner. Looks like I finally got the weapon that fits my name!"

Ifrit merely glowed in response, making Sol chuckle as she dismissed him.

"You wanna keep going, kid?" asked Dante.

Sol thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "Nah. Think I got a pretty good gist of the basics. I'm good."

"If you're sure."

The older twin walked back to her family, with Luna breaking off to take her place. As the two passed each other, Sol whispered something to her little sister which made her smirk. The two continue on like nothing happened. Dante took back control of the menu and spawned in the test dummies.

More Grimm, but this time, its bear versions, the Ursai. Much the like the Beowolves before them they had black fur and bony spikes on their backs and arms, as well as white, bone-like masks with red detailing. But the main difference between them, of course, is that they were in the shape of a bear.

Luna slipped on the leather gloves, moving her fingers around. She looked at Dante and gave him a look. "Make them move, Uncle Dante. I want to figure out this weapon's purpose through that way."

Dante shrugged and obeyed. With a few flicks and the Ursai gained movement. The bears stared at Luna and roared, lunging for an attack. She jumped back and flicked her hands to the side… Nothing happened.

Luna rolled forward, and leaped away, dodging the claws of the Grimm. She stared at the gloves, trying to figure them out.

_"The character on the palm reads shadow, which really doesn't tell me-" _Luna stopped herself and fought the urge to facepalm, possibly figuring out what Nyx does. _"Feels obvious, now that I think about it."_

The Ursai tried to lunge Luna once again, but they missed her by just a hair, as she dashed back. Skidding to a stop, she thrust her arm out, focusing right at the visible shadows beneath the Grimm.

All of a sudden, the Ursai came to a halt, as if frozen in place. But then the strangest thing happened. They stood upright and straightened up their arm, copying Luna. This greatly confused Luna until she looked down and saw that her shadow was linked up with theirs.

"Shadow Mimicry?" she said out loud.

At this, Dante snapped his fingers as his eyes widened in realization. "That's right! Now I remember. Those damned spirits kept on using it to get me vulnerable while the others attacked. So, you use your own shadow to immobilize either one or a group of targets. Once you're set, you can force them to follow your movement, or force them to stay paused while some friends come in to take care of them. But, I never really bothered to use that thing, so, you're gonna have to find out everything about it, kid."

Luna nodded as she processed the information. She hummed in thought, then gained an idea. Something she saw in an anime once… Not that she watched that sort of thing. Luna closed her eyes and concentrated. The shadow below the Ursai expanded and shaped into needles, piercing each one.

Morrison crossed his eyes, nodding in respect. "Smart. There can't always be a time where she's with someone to rely on getting the killing blow. I guess it's not really shadow mimicry, but more on shadow manipulation. Damn, that's pretty powerful!"

Luna lowered her arms and the needles released the Grimm as they all disintegrated. She slicked back her hair and turned to Dante.

"That's enough for me. I got what I needed. I'll merely train on my own time."

Dante nodded and brought back the menu. "Well, if we're not gonna do anything else, let's go back." He scrolled through the menu and tapped **Exit.** A portal materialized behind them, the other end showing Dante's office. Naturally, everyone walked in, taking them back to Remnant.

* * *

**Back to the Devil May Cry office**

Everyone plopped down onto the couches while Dante sat onto his recliner. He craned his neck to look at his wall clock and found that only a second passed by.

"Hey, Uncle Dante."

The half-demon looked up and faced his lone nephew. "Yeah, kid? Anything you need?"

"Well, I was just wondering - why didn't you train me at that void thing? It looked like the greatest place for training."

Dante shook his head, a frown on his face. "Not really, kid. I mean, it's great and all, but it's missing a few things. Really, the Void's just like a training area for you to practice your weapons. Plus, do you know expensive it is to get an orb to that place?!"

Saphron then piped in. "Wait, you can just buy it with Lien?"

"No, not Lien. Red Orbs." Before Jaune could ask, Dante cut him off and explained. "They're basically a specific type of currency. You get them from killing demons because the orbs are their crystallized blood. Here."

Dante held out his hand and a red stone in the shape of a screaming head appeared. Jaune looked at it in awe, amazed at it. He willed it away and went back to his explanation.

"So yeah. One Entrance Orb to the Void costs 3,000,000 Red Orbs! It's crazy expensive, and you've need to find a Divinity Statue just to get it."

The Arcs winced at the amount and hissed. Although Jaune was a bit confused what the Divinity Statue was.

"I'll explain it some other time, kid." said Dante. He stood up from his chair and made a declaration. "So, anyone up for some sundaes? There's store just across the street that has some great deals. I'm buying."

* * *

Pyrrha ran down the stairs and went into the living room to grab her stuff. Her mother walked in, surprised at her daughter's speed.

"What's the problem, dear? You seem to be in a hurry."

"Oh! Mom! I'm just grabbing some stuff for me and Jaune to play with."

Rosia lightly frowned. "I'm sorry, honey. But Jaune's not at home. His mother passed by the bakery earlier. She said they were going to visit her brother in-law."

Pyrrha's shoulder sagged as she sighed in disappointment. "Oh…"

The mother smiled and placed a hand over her shoulder. "Don't be sad, dearie. There's always another day. Why don't you go upstairs and try out that little website your school sent you?"

At this, Pyrrha's eyes lit up in remembrance. "Ah! That's right, the pen pal project!" She planted a quick kiss to her mother's cheek and ran back up to her room. "Thanks, mom!"

Pyrrha quickly booted up her computer and brought up her RemMail account. She browsed through her inbox and clicked on the link sent by her school. It was a website for pen pals. Mistral had made contact with an isolated island somewhere far off Remnant, and the school decided that the kids should try to talk with the children there as a sort of project, and to also exchange cultures.

She scrolled down the many lists of names, skimming through each of their listed interests and dislikes. It wasn't long until Pyrrha stopped to an entry of a girl who was about the same age as her, and even having the same hair color and style.

"Kyrie, huh?"

Pyrrha contemplated for a moment before making her decision. She took hold of the mouse and clicked, opening up another tab for her to write in her message.


	5. Does This Count as a Camping Trip?

At the Arc family's house, Jaune and Dante were at the living room, the former chatting with Pyrrha on the phone while the latter was browsing through a gun magazine that Sol had lent him. The two of them were the only ones inside. Noir was called by her commanding officers, Sol and Luna were back at Haven, Saphron was out on a hot date and Jeanne went away to check on one of her restaurants.

Dante closed the magazine and set it down. He crossed his arms and looked at his lone nephew as he finished his conversation with his friend.

"So, let's talk about weapons, kid. Brute force is a great thing to have for fighting, but having a weapon is the better choice."

Jaune's attention was solely on Dante's words, listening to everything he said.

"If you want to protect not just yourself, but others around you, then you need to be armed. In some way, weapons are like an extensions of ourselves. A part of who we are, and in turn, it gives us purpose - to preserve."

Dante stood up. "So, we're moving on to training with weapons and get you into fighting. Your mother told me that you had something in mind."

The blond's face grew sullen look but nonetheless, he nodded. Dante gestured for Jaune to show him. He got off the chair and ran up the staircase, the half-devil trailing closely. Eventually, they stopped right at the end of the hallway, where there was a small, dangling rope on the ceiling.

Jaune looked at it with hesitation, before gathering the courage and summoned out a spectral arm and used it to pull on the rope, revealing a folding stepladder that led towards what was presumably to be the attic. The two of them entered and Dante couldn't help but blink at the cluttered room.

It had the typical things a room needed, a bed and some drawers. What he didn't expect was the amount of papers strewn about, with some even pinned to the wall. Dante took a closer look at one and saw that it was plans for a gun.

"Nera dreamed of being a weapon smith."

Dante turned to his nephew and saw his tear-stained smile as he looked at the various blueprints all around the room, trembling as certain memories played in his head.

"She'd always come to ask me what my opinions were on some of the plans she had come up with, and always wanted to make me a weapon for when I grew up. No, not just for me, but for my mom and my sisters too. She wanted to be the greatest one there is, and always brainstormed most of the time. And whatever prototypes she made, she'd test it on the kids who would pick on me just to try and make me smile."

Dante approached Jaune and wrapped him in a hug, patting the back of his head, prompting the blond to cry. For a couple of minutes, they stayed like that, until he finally calmed down. Jaune broke away from his uncle as he wiped way the tears.

"I'm sorry… It's just, I still miss her."

The Son of Sparda gave him a smile of understanding. "It's fine, kid. We all have people that we miss. Think about it this way, whatever you'll take from here, she probably had made it with you in mind. So use it to honor her."

Jaune smiled back and nodded. "Thanks, Uncle Dante."

He turned around walked up to a door, with the label of 'Weapon Vault'. He twisted it open and revealed two items inside. One was a large, double-barreled revolver with engravings on said barrels and the chamber, a blue rose on the cylinder crane. It heavily resembled the one that Nera used before her death. The other was a large sword, with a curved blade and an ornately etched base, colored red. But its hilt was quite baffling as it resembled a motorcycle grip.

Dante had to blink as he looked at the gun. "Wait, is that a double-barreled revolver? And what's up with that sword's grip, why does it look a motorcycle grip?"

Jaune gingerly picked up the two weapons and took them out. He first gestured to the gun. "Blue Rose. Nera really liked this creation of hers that she made multiple versions, but this was her latest one. Basically, it fires out two shots at the same time. The bottom one would break through someone's defenses while the top would follow and hit them unsuspectingly."

"Huh. That's smart. Especially if you use high-powered ammunition. You could probably kill things easily with that."

Jaune then hefted up the blade with slight difficulty. "She called this Red Queen. But sadly, it's unfinished."

The devil hunter raised an eyebrow. "Unfinished how? Looks complete to me. Or does it have something to do with that motorcycle grip?"

The blond nodded. "It does. But you wouldn't believe me if I said it." He pointed at the desk, where a couple of papers lay. "Those are the plans for Red Queen. Take a look."

Dante strode up to the desk and picked up the papers. In his mind, he told himself that it wouldn't be that weird and he wouldn't be surprised. But as soon as he read it, his mind was blown.

"Man, if your sister was still alive, she and I would've gotten along pretty well. This Exceed concept that she thought of is pretty cool. But, yeah, I can see the problem. It's pretty complicated, and I don't know many smiths that could implement something like this."

Jaune frowned at this, however, his hopes rose up as Dante kept speaking.

"But, one of my business partners might."

"Ah! That's right. Mr. Morrison mentioned how you also owe them money."

Dante nodded. "Yeah, but hopefully, with the money that Jeanne gave to Morrison, it had been cleared off. Come on, they might be back at the shop."

* * *

Unfortunately, they weren't at the Devil May Cry office. When Dante and Jaune got there, it was empty. The former scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed he was wrong.

"Guess they're not hear yet. Hold on, I'll be back, kid. They might be around."

With that, Dante left the shop, leaving Jaune behind to properly explore the office. Sure, he had already seen it when he had cleaned it up along with his family, but he didn't really get to see much. Plus, he was still a kid, and being adventurous was pretty much an innate thing to do.

Unfortunately, aside from the, surprisingly, large amount of books his uncle had, the demon skulls and the Devil Arms he kept locked away, there wasn't anything of interest. Jaune plopped down onto Dante's chair, pushing it forward and back to keep himself entertained as he awaited his uncle's return. His eyes locked onto a picture frame on his uncle's desk, which he knew wasn't present when they came to visit.

The picture frame contained the photo of a beautiful woman that had long, wavy hair in the color of a golden yellow, complimented by her dark-colored eyes. She was wearing a simple, black turtleneck dress and a red shawl over it.

Jaune stared at the photo of the woman, two questions running through his head. Who was the woman, and why did it seem like he already missed her despite not even knowing her? Why did Dante have a photo of her on his desk?

His thoughts were interrupted as the doors were flung open. He looked up and expected to see his uncle's return…only to be confused as two women strode into the place, armed with weapons.

The first had dark, chin-length hair on both sides of her face and she had a fringe that reached her eyebrows. She wore a pair of aviators, with a scar running across her nose. Her outfit consisted of a white jacket with what appeared to be a harness underneath, with no shirt, revealing her ample cleavage and belly button. She also had white short shorts and red gloves, knee-high boots with magazine pouches on both sides of her hips.

The second one, however, looked eerily similar to the woman in the picture. Her clothing consisted of black leather pants, high-heeled boots, a corset, double belts, a choker, and some kind of wrist accessory.

The black-haired woman took off her glasses, revealing that she had heterochromia, red for her left, and bluish-green for her right, to stare right at Jaune. "What's a kid doing here?" she thought out loud.

"That would be my nephew."

The two spun around and saw Dante standing at the entrance. He closed the doors and looked at them with joy.

"It's been a while, huh? How have you two-"

Dante didn't get to finish as a bullet found itself buried into his forehead, pushing him down. The culprit was the lady in white, who held a handgun, smoke coming out from its muzzle.

"U-uncle Dante!" Jaune screamed out in shock.

The lady in white rolled her eyes before it shifted into a heated glare. Meanwhile the woman in black looked at him in slight disappointment. However, if one were to closely look, they could that they were relieved.

"You've been back for a year and you didn't even bother to tell us?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

A spectral arm came out and swept at them, forcing the two to jump back in surprise at the sudden attack. Jaune ran in front of his uncle, his hair white, and hovered over him protectively. "G-Get away from my uncle!"

Dante groaned out loudly as he pushed himself up, the wound in his forehead closing up. "Calm down, kid. These are the business partners I've been talking about. The one with the trigger finger is Lady. The blonde would be Trish."

Lady lowered her gun and holstered it back. That's when she processed their earlier words. "Nephew? Uncle? What? Dante, did you just take some kid off the street and start having call you uncle?"

"No." he sighed. "This is my actual nephew. Meet Jaune Arc. And yes, he is the father."

Trish grew intrigued, but also confused. "How is that possible? Dante, you told me yourself, you killed Vergil back in Mallet Island."

The Son of Sparda shook his head, looking unsure himself. "Look, I don't know the details myself, but I guarantee the both of you that the kid's 100% my nephew."

Lady looked at Jaune closely, who stood confidently, not unnerved by the woman's gaze. She sighed in defeat and looked back at Dante.

"You're right. I can definitely see the resemblance between him and Vergil. It's kinda scary. Where'd you even find him?"

"His mother called me. Vergil went dark, but apparently, he instructed her to call me so I can help out with training his powers, if the arm wasn't already a giveaway."

The two lady hunters blinked as they just now noticed Jaune's demonic arm. But they wouldn't admit openly. Trish cleared her throat and walked up to him, offering her arm.

"I'm Trish. It's nice to meet you."

Jaune looked at the stretched out hand, before grasping it with his own and shook it. "Y-yeah. Nice to meet you too."

Lady just offered a wave. "Lady. Yeah, that is actually my legal name now. Don't ask. So, what's been Dante telling you about us?"

"Well, nothing really, besides that he used to owe you guys."

"Speaking of which." Trish crossed her arms, brow raised in skepticism. "How on Remnant did you manage that?"

Dante rubbed the back of his head, a bit embarrassed to say the answer. "Well… That would be thanks to my sister in-law."

The two women crossed their arms and glared at the half-devil. "So you're taking advantage of them?" assumed Lady.

Jaune then piped in. "Actually, Uncle D didn't even want that to happen. Mom did that out of her own kindness. Are you actually my uncle's friends, because you immediately assume the worst. What sort of friend does that?"

"Trust us, kid. If you've hung out with Dante for as long as we have, you'd think so too." simply replied Lady. "Moving on, why did you bring your nephew out here?"

Dante handed over the plans for Red Queen to Lady. "This. I'm planning on training the kid in fighting and that's the weapon he wants to use."

The only pure human looked at her long-time partner incredulously. "Dante, this is 're basically asking to put a motor engine inside of a sword…that's not even gonna mecha-shift. Sorry, Jaune. I hate to burst your bubbles, but this Exceed concept, while pretty awesome, isn't feasible right now."

Jaune's shoulder sagged, his face etched with sadness. "Guess I'll have to make do with just a regular blade."

Trish walked up to the half-human child and placed a comforting hand over his shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much. Give it a few years, and you'll be getting it, guaranteed."

"...thanks, Ms. Trish." He then perked up as a question came to mind. "Are you the woman on Uncle Dante's desk? Are you his girlfriend?"

The following reactions were varied. Dante choked on a donut he procured from somewhere. Lady started laughing out loudly, clutching her stomach at how hard she did. And Trish only gave him an amused smirk.

"No, I'm not. We're just business partners and friends. Nothing else. And as for the woman in the picture, no, I'm not her. That would be his mother, which would make her your grandmother. Her name was Eva."

Jaune slowly nodded. Was. That would mean she's dead. He looked down, feeling a bit sad that he never got to meet his grandmother… Actually, now that he thought about it, he didn't get to do as well from his mother's side. Does that mean that they're dead as well?

His thoughts were interrupted as the doors burst open and in walked Morrison. The dapper man looked pleasantly surprised that there weren't any bullets hole in the wall but nonetheless, he smiled at all the devil hunters present.

"My my, isn't this a reunion? Sit down tight, because I got another job for you three. Cash on completion." That's when he took notice of Jaune. "Oh! A pleasure to see you again, Jaune."

Lady quirked a brow and looked at the blond. "Should he be hearing this?"

Dante smiled and gestured for Morrison to continue. "Let him. He might not have formal training, but he can protect himself. Besides, this is a good opportunity for him to see what's in store for his possible future career. That, and it's better to see the pros in action to learn by watching."

"Then you're responsible for his safety and well-being." stated Morrison. "Anyway, this mission is to search and destroy a facility hidden somewhere deep in a forest. There's word that this facility is an illegal testing site for the paranormal and supernatural. The Mistralian Government had shut it down years ago, but through an anonymous tip, it's revealed to have been still going on up to this day."

Trish took a few step forwards, interested in more details. "Really? Now why would the government shut down something as innocent as investigating the paranormal?"

Morrison's face changed into a seriously sad expression, surprising the three adults. "Because what makes it illegal…is the fact that they use children to test these things out."

Lady growled in anger, Trish looked pissed, and Jaune looked horrified. Meanwhile, Dante's face remained blank, having no reaction whatsoever. But Morrison knew better, and he knew for a fact that the half-demon was livid.

"When do we start and where is it?" said Dante in an almost tranquil tone.

The dapper man took off his hat and gave them the details. "The tip states that the facility is somewhere in the west of Anima. Near the Forests of Hinoki, to be exact."

"Forests of Hinoki?" parroted Trish. "That's miles away from Mistral City."

"Well, it doesn't matter." stated the Son of Sparda as he stood up, having made his mind. "Tell them we'll take up on the gig, but we get to keep whatever's dangerous inside that facility. Wouldn't want it to fall into the wrong hands."

Morrison nodded in agreement. "I'll be sure to notify them." With his business done, he left, wishing the crew good luck.

Dante craned his neck towards the room where he kept his Devil Arms and decided to humor at least two of them - Alastor and Beowulf.

Apart from looking like a regular blade, the Alastor had the head of a dragon biting the blade, with the wings of the dragon acting as the guard of the sword. The hilt had a swirling pattern leading to skulls at the bottom with a spike pointing out.

Beowulf was a a pair of greaves and gauntlets The gauntlets were black and vaguely resembled a wolf's head, with fangs and a mane, with the greaves looking like clawed legs. Both of them had glowing veins with white light flowing through them.

Once securing them into his hammerspace, he looked at the three and asked them if they were ready. Lady adjusted the giant rocket launcher on her back and gave the man a thumbs up, with Trish just nodding at him.

"Alright. Jaune, you're riding with me. The two of you, try to keep up."

Dante got on to his motorcycle, with the blond following suit. The half-devil made sure that his nephew held onto him tightly, before speeding off to their destination.

* * *

**Forest of Hinoki**

The three devil hunters pulled the brakes and their motorcycles skid to a halt. The trio, plus Jaune, got off and looked around. Lady adjusted her aviators, humming in thought.

"Well, there 's nothing here that looks out of place."

"Then we'll have to go in deeper." thought Trish out loud.

Dante grunted in agreement and turned to his nephew. "Keep close to us, kid."

Jaune nodded obediently and the four of them ventured deep into the woods. Oddly enough, there weren't any evidence of the paranormal nor were there anything demonic that Dante or Trish could sense. They explored further for a good two hours, until Dante sighed in irritation.

"I'm bored."

His two business partners agreed, getting a little itchy for some action. Jaune then spotted a lone apple and went over to get it. He summoned out his spectral arm and plucked it off. The blond smiled and rubbed the red fruit on his shirt. As he was about to take a bite, a Beowolf dropped down in front of him, growling menacingly.

Before it could even make a move, Dante swiftly moved in and drop kicked it, sending it back. Good news, Jaune was safe. Bad news, the Beowolf recovered and it howled out to attract its compatriots.

Packs of Beowolves emerged from out of the bushes, followed by two different species of Grimm. One of them looked similar to the legends of the Manticore. They had the body and the head of a lion, and had the tail of a scorpion. Although none of them had any sort of wings, and some had spiked clubs for a tail instead.

The other ones were similar to that of hornets. They had white armored mask and armor along their backs. On the back of their abdomen, the armor was in four overlapping plates. They had jagged pincers, antenna, four red transparent wings and a stinger.

The Grimm all stared at them menacingly, completely surrounding them on all sides.

Dante cracked a grin as he drew out Rebellion. Lady took out her rocket launcher, Kalina Ann, while Trish summoned out her guns, Luce and Ombra.

"Well, looks like this party's starting to get a bit crazy. Let's rock!"

The three of them then split up and faced each Grimm. Dante got the Beowolves. Lady got the Lancers. And Trish got the Manticores.

* * *

**Play - Taste the Blood(DMC3)**

**Dante vs Beowolves**

Dante whooped out loudly as he easily hacked through the Wolf Grimm with ease, only needing one strike. He rolled out of the way of a claw, and bifurcated it. He smirked at the Beowolf before mercilessly obliterating its head with Ivory.

The Son of Sparda launched himself into the air as numerous Beowolves tried to lunge at him. He drew out Ebony and shouted.

"**Gunslinger!"**

Dante rapidly pulled the trigger on his guns and started spinning around like a vortex, raining out bullets onto the unfortunate Wolf Grimm. He descended down and whistled in amazement that most of them were still alive.

"Well that's something you don't see every day. Would've been boring if you guys got killed quickly. Now, as much as the guys want to keep on partying," Gesturing to his guns. "I think it's about time we see if you can handle a REAL Beowulf."

As he said this, Ebony and Ivory disappeared from his hand and Beowulf appeared onto his person. The Devil Arm snorted as it surveyed the confused Grimm. **"So these are Beowolves? Unimpressive."**

"Yeah? Well, these guys are basically darkness incarnate. And you know what you're made out of."

Dante grinned and started clapping his hands, mocking the wolves. "Come on, little puppies. I'll take you all out on a walk. Come on, don't be shy!"

The Beowolves growled and charged at the devil hunter. Dante grunted and back flipped, kicking a few in the snout as he shouted once again.

"**Swordmaster!"**

Dante performed a swift dive kick, piercing through a couple of the Beowolves, and landed on one, acting like a makeshift skateboard. Once he had enough, he kicked himself off and landed down with a ground pound, a small nova of light erupting around him and dissolved anything unfortunate enough to be near it.

Dante grunted and zoomed off, delivering a straight punch onto one of the Beowolves, knocking it into it three others, sending them careening into a tree. An Alpha rushed in and tried to slash at the half-demon , only for its claws to be caught by Dante. He shrugged it off and performed a flurry of kicks, his legs blurring because of the sheer speed. He spun around and ended in an axe kick that ended up slicing the Beowolf in half.

Seeing their Alpha dead, the remaining pack members turned tail and retreat. Dante willed away Beowulf and called out to the running wolves.

"Hey! Where are you guys going? We haven't even played fetch yet!"

He held out his hand, and in a flicker of lightning, the Alastor appeared. Dante pulled back before throwing the sword in a spinning motion, similar to that of a boomerang. The Alastor homed in on the Beowolves and sliced them instantly. Once done, the sword went back him to, placing itself on Dante's back.

"Well," He put his hands on his hips, a satisfied smile on his lips. "Looks like I'm done. Think I should have just finished them off with Beowulf?"

The sword hummed before responding. **"No. Because killing them with a ball of light is too obvious."**

* * *

**Trish vs Manticores**

Trish jumped back, firing off numerous bullets at the dozen of Manticores heading for her. Unfortunately, they were smarter than she had anticipated as they sliced down the bullets. The blonde hummed in thought before holstering away Luce and Ombra.

"Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned-way."

Trish cracked her knuckles as sparks of electricity emitted from her body. The Manticores roared, ignoring the yellow element and instead spat out a stream of fire. The blonde merely jumped over the collective attack and dive kicked one of the Grimm hybrid, sending out currents of electricity that shocked those that surrounded it.

She quickly kicked herself off and punched the ground, sending out bolts of lightning to four Manticores, effectively frying them. Trish cartwheeled to the right, dodging a Manticore's stinger, then did it again for another flamethrower.

The blonde smirked and put on a pair of shades and she began to emit a shroud of yellow aura. The Manticores paid no heed and merely tried to tackle her. Trish grunted and spin kicked one into the air, before launching it towards its fellow Grimm. She flipped back and smacked one into the ground. She grabbed it by its bone mane and lodged it off effortlessly.

Trish threw the head and kicked it right into a unsuspecting Manticore, disorienting it. She ran towards it, her hand crackling with energy. Trish pulled back her hand and delivered a zoom punch, blowing up its head and launching its body towards more Manticores, sending them back.

As she was distracted, a Manticore managed to get the drop on her and tackled her down. The mix Grimm spewed fire on her face and impaled her stomach with its stinger, injecting poison into her bloodstream.

Trish didn't seem to slow down by the two attacks. She grabbed the Manticore by its mane and headbutted it before kicking it off with a judo throw. The blonde quickly got up to her feet and delivered numerous pinwheel kicks to the Grimm, before killing it with an electric heel stomp.

She sighed as she took off her glasses, the glow around her disappearing. Another pride of Manticore appeared, looking much bigger than the ones she had just fought off. Trish merely smirked and placed away her eyewear.

"This should be more interesting."

All as one, they breathed out a large stream of fire, which Trish merely jumped over. She cried out as she charged up another attack. She cupped her hands together and sent out a large arc of lightning, electrocuting the pride. Minutes later, she stopped and landed back down. Trish quirked an eyebrow in amazement as the Manticores still lived, albeit injured heavily.

"Well, guess I wasn't wrong. But what say you and I finally end this?"

Trish raised her fist into the air, gathering lightning. Once she accumulated enough, she brought down her hand, and a pillar of lightning struck the Manticore pride. Dismissing the attack, Trish smirked as there were no more remains of the Grimm, only ashes.

* * *

**Lady vs Lancers **

Lady kept silent as she kept on dodging most of the harpoon stingers the Lancers sent her away. Once she got some breathing room, she fired away with her handguns.

Much to the female devil hunter's surprise, a swarm of other Lancers formed around her targets and took the intended bullets for their comrades. Although, it bounced back, due to using the protective shell on their back

Shrugging it off, she dropped the empty magazine in her guns and reloaded them with her napalm load. Cocking back her guns, Lady rapidly pulled her trigger and sent numerous bullets at the Lancers.

The Wasp Grimm zoomed around every bullet, dodging each one before it could hit them. This irritated Lady to no end. She, a marksman on par with Dante, was missing each of her shots. Now aggravated, she holstered back her handguns and pulled out her shotgun.

She thrust forward her gun and rammed it into a Lancer. She smirked and shot it point-blank. She spun around and fired again, this time, managing to hit a couple of targets with the gun's devastating spread.

Lady rolled away and quickly reloaded. She blocked two Lancers trying to ram her and shot them for their troubles. The female Devil Hunter then shot the ground and used the recoil, putting some distance between her and the Grimm.

At her height, Lady grinned and finally busted out the big gun. IE, Kalina Ann. She fired off a powerful missile, launching herself further back and sent it right into a swarm of Lancers, killing them instantaneously.

Obviously, they didn't quite like that. The Wasp Grimm fired off their harpoon stingers once again, and used it subdue the devil hunter. Lady cried out as she felt the rope wrap around her body, constricting her of movement.

The Lancers pulled her down, harshly onto the ground. Others quickly swooped in and surrounded her, preparing to restrict her further. Lady smirked, and all of a sudden, a great explosion engulfed her, blowing up the surrounding Lancers.

The Walking Arsenal pushed herself and dusted her clothes, letting go of the pin of the grenade she had managed to take hold of before she had been subdued.

"Having a Semblance really have its perks."

Looking up, she saw more Lancers heading towards her. She kicked up Kalina Ann and planted it into the ground. With her hand on the trigger, Lady grinned.

"Open wide!"

She pulled the trigger and a swarm of micro-missiles emerged from the rocket launcher. The sheer amount managed to overwhelm the Lancers, until they were reduced to none.

Lady grunted in satisfaction and lightly adjusted her aviators. Dante and Trish then regrouped with her, the latter playfully admonishing the human.

"You sure took your time."

She just shrugged in response as she secured Kalina Ann back on her back. "So far, we've fought nothing but Grimm. I'm starting to think that anonymous tip was just a scam."

Dante shook his head. "Can't be. This is Morrison we're talking about. There's no way he'd fall for something like a scam."

While the two of them discussed the legitimacy of their mission,, Jaune, who had perched himself up on a tree to get a better vantage point of the fight, grew curious of something sticking out of the bushes.

Dropping down from his position, he approached what to be a lever. Unfortunately for him, he didn't through his next action as he fiddled with it. All of a sudden, the ground beneath him parted into a hole. He wasn't able to react in time and fell as a result.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Jaune's scream quickly attracted the trio's attention, Dante's face paling.

"Kid!"

Quickly, they ran back to his last position and saw the pit. Trish peered over, but couldn't see anything due to how deep it was. Dante crouched and tried to call out to his nephew.

"Kid! Are you in there?!"

For a moment, he didn't get a response, bringing despair to the Son of Sparda until he heard Jaune's voice.

"I, I'm okay! These pillows cushioned my fall!"

Dante sagged and sighed in relief, grateful that his nephew was safe. "Good! Now stay where you are, I'm gonna come down there and get you!"

"You should bring Ms. Lady and Ms. Trish down here too! I think this is the facility that Mr. Morrison mentioned!"

This both surprised and impressed the devil hunters.

"Huh. His first day on the job and he already managed to get ahead of us."

Lady crossed her arm and looked back down. "An underground laboratory? How even more cliche can it get?"

"Our life's been full of cliches and tropes, Lady. Honestly, it'd be pretty weird if it weren't." stated Trish.

Dante went in first and jumped into the hole. The blonde offered a hand to the human, whom merely shook her head. Trish shrugged and jumped after the half-demon. Lady checked around, making sure that nothing was watching them before finally dropping in.

Unbeknownst to her, their movements were being tracked by a security camera expertly hidden within the trees. It had been watching seen the moment they arrived, observing everything.

* * *

**For the guest asking when were Trish and Lady going to make an appearance, did this chapter answer your question? As for your other part of the review, I'm still unsure of that. The Dante pairing, I mean. There are two girls in mind that I'm weighing between to pair with Dante. And no, as much as Lucia is interesting, she's not the other one.**

**Hopefully, I've had come to a decision in the future. Oh, and hint to the other girl is that she also has black hair. That's it.**

**In Devil May Cry canon, or at least, from what I've gathered, Nero was the one to make Red Queen, sort of inspired by the Order's weapons, meanwhile in here, it was thought up and begun by Nera, and will be finished by -REDACTED-.**

**Obviously, this mission isn't in any source of Devil May Cry, and is something original thought up by me. Next chapter, two familiar faces will appear, and it may or may not shock you on how I plan to do it.**

**That's all I have to offer. Adios!**


	6. Down the Rabbit Hole

"There's no doubt about it. Just this entire hallway screams evil laboratory."

The three devil hunters, plus Jaune, strolled through the hall inside of the pit that the latter had discovered by accident. So far, they hadn't seen anything suspicious, which was already suspicious enough on its own. No guards. No security cameras. Nothing.

"This just screams eerie..." commented Lady. "Like seriously. We've been walking for minutes and we haven't even encountered anyone."

Dante turned to the human with a quirked brow. "What? You trying to insinuate that we're in a horror game or something? I mean, sure. This lab does look like it could be from Resident Evil. All it's missing is a logo in the shape of an umbrella plastered everywhere."

Jaune looked at his uncle, a bit surprised. "You know Resident Evil?"

"Of course I do! What? You think I'm a boomer or something? Used to play back in the days, till I got dropped with the whole debt thing, ya know? Didn't get a chance to follow the series. So, how has it been?"

"Well, after remaking 2 and beyond, they went back to making actual sequels. Pretty sure we're on Resident Evil X right now."

Before Dante could give out his response, a baritone voice echoed throughout the hallway, causing them to stop in their tracks.

"**Indeed. On another note, Final Fantasy VII Remake was a huge success. SNK got back on their feet and did another crossover with Capcom."**

The three devil hunter narrowed their eyes and drew out their guns, aiming them at different directions. Trish swept around her eyes, trying to spot where the voice was coming from.

"Who are you? Show yourself."

"**I'm perfectly fine where I am right now, Ms. Huntress. Ah, but where are my manners? I am Achroma. The head scientist of this little facility. I welcome you to the testing grounds of our research."**

"Research?" parroted Jaune, looking quite confused.

"**Correct, dear boy. Now, I'm well aware that you already know what the purpose of this facility is, but do you know the full story?"**

This attracted their attention. Full story? What was he talking about?

"**But I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise so early. That is why I challenge you to go through this entire facility to come and find me. I will tell everything that you want to know when you do. However, my fellow scientists have no idea of your presence here, so you'll have to do your absolute best not to alarm them. Of course, with your repertoire, it'll be a cinch for you all. Nonetheless, I bid you all good luck!"**

As Achroma finished, the walls parted, revealing two new entrances for them to go through. The trio frowned and holstered away their guns.

"You know, this just might be a trap in attempt to divide us. Or to try and get our guard down maybe?" suggested Lady.

Dante shook his head, despite looking unsure himself. "I don't know, Lady. If that was the case, he would have done it silently then introduce himself. Hell, he probably should be gloating, but he isn't. Something is definitely off, and I think I have a feeling what it is. I just need confirmation."

He turned to his friends, his visage becoming serious. "Jaune, you're staying with me. You and I'll keep on going forward, while Lady and Trish go through the other doors."

The others had no objections and agreed. With their designated areas, they split up and went their separate ways.

* * *

**Lady's Path**

Lady kept herself armed at all times, making sure to check her back every once in a while. The room she was in was finally different. Although now, it was making her even more paranoid. There were crates stacked up by twos, tall enough to hide someone if need be.

Her eyes shot up, when she heard someone walking way across her. Quickly, she went behind the crates and crouched down low to cover herself. Finally, two figures walked by. They were both in typical get up for a scientist, one of them was even holding a clipboard while the other sported a pair of specs.

"Subject C-8 is another failure. Her body couldn't handle the strain of the samples, and suffered a heart attack."

"Again? That's the 10th time! At this rate, we're gonna run out of test subjects before we can even finish the experiment! Seriously, we never had any problems before that bastard became the head scientist!"

The one holding the clipboard grunted and smacked it against his companion's head. "Don't go on saying things like that out in the open. Need I remind you that he has eyes and ears everywhere in here? He could be watching us right now…and we might not even know it. While it's true that things have spiraled down ever since our old head scientist stepped down, we shouldn't lose hope. We are scientists, and we explore every possibility that exists!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. You didn't have to hit me on the back of the head!" exclaimed the one with specs as he rubbed the growing bump on his head.

"Stop being a sissy. Come on, let's get some lunch first then head back to the lab."

As the two of them left, Lady quietly took her time crawling out of her hiding space and made sure that there was no one else heading her way. Once she was clear, she headed towards the other end of the hall, moving swift yet stealthily, not wanting to get caught.

Eventually, Lady came to a stop, face to face with a large, metal door. It would've posed a problem, had it been closed. Yet, for some reason she couldn't even think of, it was open.

"I'm starting to think that maybe I was right and this is a trap."

However, with nowhere else to go but forward, the Walking Arsenal entered the room. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't a lab of any sorts. Instead, it was a storage room of some kind, decorated with numerous crates and tubes, with weapons probably inside of them. On the side of each item was some sort of insignia that she didn't recognize, ringing alarm sirens in her head.

Lady took out her handgun once again and approached one of the crates. She reached for the top and slowly opened it up, revealing...broken pieces of what seemed to be metal.

"What the hell?" Lady hesitantly reached out and grabbed one of them. She shone it over the light and inspected it as thoroughly as she could, wondering just what the metal was. "I… I don't get it. Did they break a weapon, or something?"

She put back the piece and snapped a picture of it to show the others later. She then approached another crate and was baffled to see-

"A horn?" She picked it up and looked at it with confusion. "What's a horn of all things doing here? Is it from a demon and they're trying to exact some samples for their experiments?"

Lady placed it back and saw that inside were bits and pieces of armor unfamiliar to her. Once again, she took a picture and moved on to another container. She let out a startled gasp as she what was inside. Multiple limbs of numerous demons, but what made her gasp was its size. All of the arms and feet inside were small…small enough to belong to children.

"Those bastards… How could they-"

She was cut off as Achroma's voice rang across the room.

"**As unfortunate as it is, that is what a scientist does. They toss aside their morals and do what they need to in order to get the results that they so desire."**

Lady swiveled around and aimed her handgun at the air, glaring heatedly as she scanned around for where the voice was coming from.

"**I wouldn't bother wasting my time in trying to find some sort of P.A. speaker, Ms. Lady. I'd be more concerned with the trap door that's about to open below you."**

Lady blinked and didn't have time to react as she fell down into said trap door, leading her deeper into the facility. Luckily, once again she softly fell onto a pile of mattresses. She quickly composed herself and saw that there were three figures hovering around her menacingly.

The three figures were humanoid in shape, and wore armor that appeared to be angelic, of sorts. Practically, their entire body was hidden, along with the head, which was covered by a hooded visor and horns protruding from the sides of their heads.

Once again, Achroma's voice flared around her.

"**Although the name is quite stupid and unoriginal, meet the Bambino Angelos. If you can translate that dead language, then you know that-"**

"These are children in front of me." finished Lady, horrified to be facing unwilling kids stuck in the armor.

"**Unfortunately, yes. Their very soul and aura have been transferred deep into the armor, along with their brain and demon souls to accompany them. Mixed with a child's creativity, and a demon's instinct for bloodshed and killing, you've got quite the terrifying combination."**

Lady's horror turned into rage as she looked around, growling. "How the hell can you do such things to children? You people are worse than the demons we've killed, and that's saying something."

For some reason, Achroma didn't respond, making Lady scoff and sneer. Her expression changed again to that of sorrow, for the children who's lives were lost. But again it changed, this time to that of determination as she tightly clenched her fist.

"_I swear, I'll make sure you all can rest in peace and kill the bastards who did this to you guys."_

The Bambino Angelos descended down and brandished their claws threateningly, making Lady respond by aiming her handguns at them. The demons went first and lunged right at her. She grunted and ducked under them, causing the Angelos to slam into each other.

Lady rolled away from them and started blasting. The bullets didn't affect the three demons, and merely bounced against their armor, making the devil hunter possessed armors let out a loud cry, disorienting Lady as she covered her ears to muffle the sound.

Quick to take advantage, one of the Angelos swooped in and grabbed her by the collar and tossed her into the air. The other Angelos went after and delivered multitude of slashes before striking her down back onto the ground.

The Walking Arsenal rolled back up and pulled out Kalina Ann. She took aim at the three Bambinos and fired a couple of homing missiles. The three swerved around, trying their best to dodge the explosive projectiles. Unfortunately, the couldn't outmaneuver them and was struck, falling to the ground.

Lady quickly capitalized on the situation. She pulled the pin threw a bunch of grenades at the fallen Angelos. In seconds, an explosion flung them harshly into the wall. But even then, they still weren't out,their visors still lit up. They let out a war cry as their claws sharpened, and glowed a vibrant blue. The Bambino Angelos swung their claws and released numerous projectiles at Lady.

The lady hunter's eyes widened and took aim below, firing a rocket and sent herself into the air, performing a rocket , with Aura, she sustained no damage beside it decreasing.

"_I hope the others are having a harder time than me."_

* * *

They weren't. With Dante and Jaune, the two of them simply ran through the hall. Again, completely empty. No guards, no mooks, and no demons too, making the elder cambion very apprehensive. After a few more minutes of running, soon, they reached the end of the hall, and similar to Lady's path, stood a metal door with a scanner placed beside it. Dante approached the scanner and frowned.

"Looks like we're gonna need an ID to get in here. But, considering we didn't even bump into anyone, it's gonna be both time consuming and risky."

"Why not just kick it down?" suggested Jaune. "We have super strength, don't we?"

"Well, yeah. But, then again, it might trip an alarm. On the other hand, we should hurry up an-huh?"

As Dante was speaking, the door pinged green and unlocked itself, opening up to the two. Uncle and nephew blinked, trying to process on how they were given a freebie.

"Or that. The door can open up by itself like that. _Seriously, something's going on with this Achroma guy. He's been watching us the very moment we set foot onto the forest. He could have triggered an alarm and evacuated, but he didn't. Could it be?"_

Jaune tugged on the half-demon's coat, snapping him out of his musings. "Hey, what are we waiting for? Let's get inside before the door closes."

Dante agreed with his nephew. The two of them walked in and were not ready for what the room contained. Inside of the room were rows upon rows of test tubes, all of them filled with some sort of green liquid, and in that were various amount of children…

Some were legless. Some were armless. Some were both. Some only had one of each. And some…had demonic parts. But one thing was for certain, none of them were breathing.

Jaune looked absolutely devastated at the sight before him. Barring the demon attack a year ago, he had never seen something so…cruel and heartless. It was enough to make him cry.

"How could someone do something like this? Why children? They did nothing wrong, they were innocent in all of this!" he shouted, as the tears dripped down.

Dante said nothing, his face devoid of any emotion, yet somehow, it looked sullen. He wordlessly placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder and gently patted it in comfort, but it did nothing to stall the emotions whirling up inside.

"How could they do this, Dante? How could anyone do this to children?!"

"That's just how the world is, kid. A human can be just as worse, or even beyond a demon. The same can be applied to them as well. Somewhere out there, a demon can be just as kind as a human can. I want you to remember this, Jaune. The world isn't always black and white, there are gray areas that can contradict them."

The Lone Son remained silent. Dante removed his hand and was about to suggest something, when Jaune's eyes flashed red and his tone took on a warped tone.

"**Whoever did this to them… when I get strong and find them, I'll feed them their own heart." **

Dante didn't respond, but mentally, he agreed with his nephew's sentiment. He jerked his thumb at the lone desk sitting in the middle, wherein a pile of papers sat. Possibly documents.

"Come on, let's go and see if there's a way for us to get them out of those tubes. They deserve a proper grave, at least." he said softly.

At that, Jaune agreed, his eyes going back to its normal azure color. They walked up to the desk and started sifting through. Dante grunted, trying to keep his anger in check as he leafed through the papers to see if there was anything useful. Unfortunately, they were all notes regarding the failed experiments all performed on the poor children, and how they died.

"Subject B-3 was incompatible with the sample, causing their body to degrade to the point of being unrecognizable. Subject K-9 had become too ill-tempered and rebellious, and had to be put down before it could escalate any further. Subject Z-0 had figured out our intentions, and resisted everything we've subjected him to, until his mind eventually broke by the stress of the experiments. Out of a hundred, only a handful of them were successful, and have been transferred over to the main lab."

Dante frowned deeply and heavily restrained himself from slamming the desk in a fit of rage. Like he had just told Jaune, any human could be just as malicious as demons, and it made him downtrodden to be reminded of this fact. While they were deeply engrossed in reading the notes, the lights on two certain tubes were draining itself of its liquid, preparing to release the children inside of it. Without even making a sound, two kids fell down onto the floor, unconscious but with their eyes open, lacking any sort of life.

Both of them were Jaune's age. One of the children was a lightly effeminate male, with long black hair and a magenta streak on the left side, his eyes matching the streak. The other one was a female with straight, orange hair and turquoise eyes.

Dante saw this from the corner of his eyes and quickly ran up to the two. He knelt down and swiftly searched for a pulse. Jaune slowly walked up to his uncle, both relieved and shocked at the sudden appearance of the two children. The Lone Son looked at his arm in surprise as it glowed when he put it closer to the two.

"They're alive…" he muttered in realization. "U-Uncle Dante, they're alive!"

As Jaune said this, Dante had managed to find a pulse on the two kids, making him sigh in relief. Although unfortunately, they were weak and faint. But it didn't matter, what did was that they were still alive.

"Finally, a bit of good news. We need to take them back with us, and help 'em recover. I hope Lady and Trish manage to find that scientist."

The Lone Son looked at the two with sorrow, then a question came to mind. "I wonder what their parents are feeling right now."

"**Sad to say, but they have none."**

Jaune reeled back in surprise at the sudden intrusion of Achroma's voice, while Dante narrowed eyes, but didn't remove them from the two children.

"What do you mean?" demanded the Son of Sparda.

"**It's exactly what it means, Dante. The unfortunate children all used in the experiment were orphans and street children. Those particular two, Lie Ren and Nora, were picked up after having survived a sudden Grimm attack on the village near by this facility. The head scientist before me grew intrigued by this, and that's why they took-oh? It seems one of you has found me. We'll speak again later, Dante."**

And once again, Achroma left them to their devices, making them wonder who managed to find him.

* * *

Trish grunted as she karate chopped another scientist on the back of the neck, knocking him out cold. Weirdly, she had came across some of the other scientists of the facility and managed to knock every single one without being detected.

The female devil stared at the metal door in front of her. And like Dante's and Lady's, it required an ID card. Luckily, she had quite the supply. She looked through the cards that she amassed, until stopping at one that said 'Skull Level', which probably meant that it acted like a skeleton ley.. She swiped it over the scanner and the door opened.

Trish strolled in to the room and was met with numerous screens surrounding a figure sitting on a chair, presumably Achroma. They were all showing visuals of different parts of the facility, with the main one currently showing Dante and Jaune cradling two children.

The blonde pulled out Luce and Ombra and cocked them, gaining the scientist's attention. He bid farewell to the two and swiveled around his chair, revealing his appearance to Trish - A pale man with obsidian black hair and a white cowlick around his head. He had yellow eyes and wore a pair of glasses. He wore a long, white lab coat, a pair of white gloves and some sort of black uniform with white outlines.

Achroma bowed to the female devil hunter and gave her a smile. "Greetings, let me introduce myself formally. I am Achroma, a scientist that will go bounds to discover what exactly gives us strength and power." He stood straight and offered a chair to the woman.

Trish graciously accepted the chair and put away her weapons, asking the first thing in her mind. "What exactly did you mean by that?"

"It is what it is. Ever since I was a child, I was curious as to how others were strong, while others were not. My parents were a part of the unfortunate ones, and as result, they were trampled upon. That day, I vowed to find the source of power, so I could share it to those without it!"

"And researching demons, experimenting on children helps you reach that goal?"

Achroma lowered his head, a deep frown etched on his face as his eyes were blocked by the light. He turned his back to Trish and sighed.

"No… That wasn't the case at first. When I had graduated, the head scientist of this facility at the time approached me. He read some of the thesis and theories I wrote and was intrigued. He offered me to work with him in order to see if they were true… It was just a lure, unfortunately. I thought it would be a series of tests and exercises with volunteers performing certain tasks under certain scenarios to determine a source. Instead, we had actual demon and devil samples, grafting them into children or injecting them with their blood."

The bespectacled man looked up at the monitors that captures visuals of the room where Dante was in, focusing on the bodies of the many dead children, the look of sorrow in his face growing deeper.

Trish stood up from her spot and walked up to Achroma, crossing her arms. "Then why not just escape, or even refuse?"

A scowl marred the man's face as he tightly clenched his fist. "I couldn't, because the bastard that me offered me the position would've killed me. Or worse, he could have forced me into being a test subject as well. I had to bear through it all, while covertly helping the children as best as I could."

He took off his glasses, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall from his face.

"It was all for naught. Most of them ended up dead while the others who managed to survive were converted into Bambino Angelos." Achroma pointed at the monitor which displayed Lady fighting said monsters. "Only three were left, the others were shipped off back to the main lab. For a while, I could do nothing but let it all happen, until the head scientist passed on the position to me. Because of that, I was able to start what I wanted for so long."

Intrigue was now written all over Trish's face. "What did you do?"

"With my new position I began to slowly erode the entire research, starting with sabotaging each experiment by euthanizing the children before they could progress further. Some would say it's cruel, however, I disagree! It's the best mercy they could receive in such a situation, and my only regret is they didn't get a brighter future."

Achroma pressed a button and a section of the wall parted, revealing numerous amount of cages, all filled with unconscious scientists. He and Trish walked up to it, the latter a bit amazed. The Searcher of Power gestured to the cage display, a dark smile crossing his lips.

"Behold, the sick bastards who gleefully took part of this research. I've rounded them all up to make it easier for when you hand them over to the authorities. Somehow, they didn't suspect a thing and got themselves all captured. And before you ask, yes, I am the one who sent the anonymous tip to the government. It needed to be done, and I'm willing to face my time and testify against all of my 'colleagues' if need be."

Trish nodded, processing what she had just learned from the man before her. She uncrossed her arms and asked another question. "Where did you get the demon samples that were used? Unless you had a portal to the Underworld, and somehow managed to subjugate a few demons, there's no possible way for you to get them."

The bespectacled scientist hummed in thought, trying to recall that specific detail. "If my memory serves me correctly, we had two different sources. One is a from a devil hunting group called 'The Winds of Destruction'. From what I've heard, they struck on their own after a few disputes. And second, is where a majority of the samples that we had been using. It came from a place called Mallet Island."

Trish's eyes lightly widened, letting out a gasp in disbelief. "And you're certain? It was called Mallet Island?"

Achroma nodded, sure of his words. "Yes. There's no doubt about it. I can only boast about a few things. And my memory is one of them." He turned to the blonde, confusion written all over his face. "Why? Is there something with that place? Do you know of it?"

"You could say that..." she responded cryptically. Trish looked back at the monitors with Dante and Jaune in them, watching with interest at the two children they were carrying out. "What can you tell me about those two children that survived? Lie Ren and Nora, right?"

Achroma hummed in affirmation. "Yes. Those two were picked up right at the outskirts of Oniyuri, the failed settlement the elite tried to build to give the people of Mistral a better choice of living, until it was subsequently abandoned because the government actually started to give a damn. Moving on from that, we discovered the two, starved and wounded. From what we had investigated, they had managed to survive the Grimm incursion that destroyed Kuroyuri. Like the children they were, they bought into the lies of my colleagues. They suffered and suffered through the pains the experiment brought them. But it proved fruitful. They were receptive to the samples, and were the first to be successfully converted. As of right now, they're only half-human."

"That's…horrible." Trish said, sad for the two, yet somewhat intrigued, that somehow, people managed to artificially produce halflings. "But if they were successful products, then why were they in that room?"

The black-haired man smirked and pushed up his specs smugly. "Simple. I faked their deaths. Before performing a string of tests, I injected them with something that would cause them to lose unconscious, make their heart stop beating, and weaken their pulse for a short amount of time."

"What?" uttered the devil hunter in a mixture of shock and surprise. "How short was your time?"

"Give or take, a few minutes." Ignoring her shocked look, he continued. "I know, it was a risky gamble, but I got lucky. They were quick to deem them failures and went to toss them away. However, I got my hand on their bodies and revived them, then hid them away until the right time. And because of that, the entire research was set back by many steps because of the 'little mishap' by my hand."

He plucked out two pen drives from the terminal and handed it over to the blonde. One was simply colored white, while the other was black, streamlined with red.

"Here. That pen drive contains every bit of information regarding the research that's been performed in this facility. It's all compiled and sorted by how it was done, and what was used. As for the other one, it contains the details for Ren and Nora. Blood type, abilities, semblance, and even their likes and dislikes. I'm sure you'll take good care of them."

Trish took them from the scientists and hid them away, nodding in gratitude. Soon after, Lady walked in to the room, looking no worse for wear. She looked a cross between angry and sorrowful. She then spotted Achroma and immediately whipped Kalina Ann, aiming it right at him. Achroma sighed and raised his hands in faux surrender. Trish approached her fellow hunter and pushed down the rocket launcher.

"Calm down, Lady. He's not the one who tortured the children. He's innocent in that regard. Trust me, based on what I've heard from him, he hasn't lied."

The Walking Arsenal frowned, but relented, nonetheless. She placed away her signature weapon and turned to the blonde. "Where's Dante?"

Speak of the devil, literally in this case, and he shall arrive. Dante entered the room, followed closely by numerous other people unfamiliar to both Lady and Trish. At the helm of the group stood Noir, wearing a sleeveless black uniform with a high collar, gold trim, and a silver symbol on the chest. The lower end of the uniform splits off into four long pieces that nearly extend to the floor. A long, adorned blue sash was wrapped around the waist. Long black gloves with a gold trim, kept on with blue bands on the upper arms as well as long white and gold high-heeled boots. The first daughter of Vergil drew her blade from the scabbard and pointed it at Achroma.

"Men, take him in." Her eyes drifted to the side, where the rest of the scientists were as well. "Them too."

The soldiers saluted and did as ordered. Two of them approached Achroma, who offered no resistance, and cuffed his arms on his back. The rest were restrained and then woken up, dragging them to the surface to put them into the Bullhead for transport. Noir approached the two female devil hunter and saluted them.

"Specialist Arc of the Black Knight's Battalion."

The two were taken aback. The Black Knight was a well known private military corporation in every circuit of the world. In fact it was one of the few PMC to exist and was very effective in its work. It wasn't long until one of the kingdoms, namely Mistral, decided to hire them in an effort to; either train up their Huntsmen, or help them create their own military force. What they didn't expect was for the Black Knights to set base and sign up to be the military force instead. Nonetheless, the entire of Mistral welcomed it.

While, yes, Huntsmen do exist, but the kingdom wanted an entirely separate force that deals with other situations, like say, the Human/Faunus debacle. The military deals with that, and possibly civilian matters, while the Huntsmen focus on the Grimm. Getting back on track, to get into the BK was very tough, due to their incredibly strict standards. To be able to get in was a feat alone, but having a ranking of Specialist at her age? Pretty admirable.

Lady and Trish wordlessly saluted back at her, making Noir smile and lower her hand. Then her smile was wiped away as she remembered her brother's expression as the corpses of the children were carried out to be autopsied, then either be hopefully sent back to their family, or be buried. With that in mind, she turned to her uncle and slapped him on the back of the head.

"What exactly made you think it was a good idea to bring my brother along?" she asked, a tick mark appearing on her forehead. "You're lucky I can't tell mother any of this because of confidentiality, or else, you'd be in a world of hurt."

Dante rubbed the spot that was struck, wincing a bit despite it nothing really hurting that much. He stopped and looked at the blonde with a serious expression that almost made his two friends do a double take.

"I thought it'd be a good way to expose him as to what the future may hold. Look, I know he's still a kid and that he as the right to be happy, but with the blood of Sparda flowing through him? It won't last long, his arm is evidence enough. By bringing him here, I hoped that I had gotten rid of some of his naivete and showed him the harsh reality of what the world is actually like. By tomorrow, this would have only motivated him to become stronger, and I can move on to teaching him how to fight."

Noir frowned at her uncle's statement, but couldn't exactly refute it because it had its merits. The Specialist sighed and sheathed back her sword. "I guess you're right. By the way, speaking of kids, you said you knew of someone that could take care of the two survivors?"

The devil hunter nodded. "Yeah. I met her on a job years ago. Helped me get it done, actually. An former witch doctor, who's actually a licensed doctor. She's both a pediatrician and a psychiatrist. She's the best person to help those two. She and I go way back, so we can trust her."

"What's her name?" asked a curious Lady.

Dante grunted and turned to the three, smirking. "It's-"

* * *

Jaune looked gloom. He sat on his bed, crouched over, hugging his legs. It had just been a few hours after he and his uncle had saved Lie and Nora, as well as arresting the numerous amount of scientists who experimented on the children.

He was still shaken up by the harsh truth that he had been shown. He still couldn't comprehend how some people could perform such wicked acts upon children. Weren't adults supposed to be protecting them? Weren't they supposed to be looking for ways to improve life? It just didn't make sense for his child mind.

But he remembered the words his sister relayed to him. Dante said that he was naive. Even after that fateful event, he had remained blind and ignorant to the world's horrors. Though he was still a child, he had a bit of right to be such.

"Then I have to discard it for now..." he decided.

Jaune sat up from his seat and tightly clenched his fist, staring at the moon, his eyes ablaze with determination. He changed into his demonic arm and gazed at it with conviction.

"From this day forth, I vow, that I will get stronger. I'll seek out more strength to protect. If they decided it wasn't worth their time, then I'll do it myself!" he declared, his arm brimming with energy.

* * *

**With this chapter, it marks the first, albeit non-speaking, appearance of Ren and Nora! Originally, I had wanted them to transform into demons and be forced Dante and Jaune to fight them, but ultimately, I decided that fight should be saved for another time. Next chapter, hopefully, will contain the last time skip that involves training, and we can finally get into the good parts.**

**Now, because I suck at describing things, and if it wasn't obvious by the name, imagine the uniform that the soldiers were wearing are the ones from the Code Geass anime, and Noir wearing C.C.'s outfit during her stay.**

**Leave your thoughts down below in the reviews, and I'll answer to them truthfully and supply anything that confuses you.**


	7. One More for the Road

**Oh... Oh my. ****100+ on both favorites and follows? This is crazy, but also amazing! Thank you, guys, for this type of support. It's really insane!**

**Also, my apologies for taking down this chapter all of a sudden. Like I've told those who asked, there were somethings I found that I didn't like, and felt that I posted it too early. Well, now here it, slightly improved.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

On the Arc family's backyard, one could hear the sound of metal clanging against each other. Normally, this would raise some concern for the neighboring people, but they knew where the source was coming from. It happened so often, it became normal to them.

To put it simply, it was just Jaune and Dante sparring, with the former wielding Red Queen while the latter wielded Rebellion.

Jaune and Dante exchanged blows, sparks flying around as their swords met again and again, canceling each other's attack. The two then locked swords, staring heatedly at each other. Dante cracked a smirk and pulled back, swinging down Rebellion, pushing back Jaune. He skidded to a stop and put up his guard, blocking Dante's Stinger attack.

Jaune grunted and back stepped then dashed forward, swinging his blade in an arc motion, performing a Shuffle attack. Dante jumped back to dodge, only to be met with a gloved fist that caught him by surprise. Jaune smirked and delivered a series of strikes and ended it with a descending slash, slamming down his uncle onto the ground. The Son of Vergil disappeared and reappeared back to the ground in a flash of blue. He struck Dante by the side, sending him flying like a golf ball.

Dante composed himself mid-air and pushed himself down. He walked around with a smirk and stabbed his blade into the ground, leaning onto it as he nodded at his nephew in approval.

"Getting better, kid."

"Well, when you have a good teacher, you tend to pick up a few things." he said, a smirk on his face.

Dante merely grunted in response and pulled out Rebellion, hefting it on his shoulders. He allowed a grin to encompass his face as he disappeared in a blur, alarming Jaune. The Son of Sparda reappeared to his side and took him by surprise.

Jaune could do nothing but try his best to block and deflect all of Dante's attacks. The man in red made an upward sweeping motion, forcing Jaune to dodge by flipping back. His eyes widened as Dante followed suit, swinging down Rebellion, forcing him back to the ground and on his knees. The blond teen pushed him off and went to retaliate, only for to be disarmed, his sword being flung off his hand and clanged against the ground.

The Legendary Devil Hunter smirked and prepared another lunging stab. He roared and dashed, performing another Stinger attack, forcing Jaune to raise his arm and block. A small explosion erupted from the reaction, destroying the poor field around them as Jaune's arm changed into its Devil Trigger. Dante looked up and nodded in approval as Jaune channeled his demonic heritage.

"Things are starting to get crazy."

"Then let's amp things up a bit!" Jaune grabbed Rebellion by the tip and tossed his uncle into the air. He drew out Blue Rose and fired off two shots.

Dante slammed down his blade and deflected the bullets back to sender. Jaune dashed to the side and fired off more at the still airborne devil hunter. He pulled out Ebony and Ivory and shot down the bullets with his own before continuing on to attack his nephew.

Then Jaune did the unthinkable.

**"Royal Guard!" **

He shifted into a stance and started generating flickers of blue energy, blocking the bullets that came his way. Unfortunately, a few stray ones managed to get through, hitting him on the chest. Jaune clenched his teeth as blood dripped down.

Dante landed down and resumed firing. Jaune recovered and dashed to the sides, switching directions every time his uncle would follow his movement. He dashed back and spun around, drawing out Blue Rose once again. The Son of Vergil smirked and fired off rapid shots, meeting Dante's bullets, canceling each other. Dante smirked and his guns suddenly glowed a vibrant red, making Jaune panic.

He leaped on to a tree, narrowly dodging the charged bullets as it dispersed. He landed on a branch and took aim, only to find his target had disappeared. Jaune jumped down and took the time to reload. He ejected the empty shell and threw out a fresh batch of bullets, swiftly slamming them into the chamber. He grunted in irritation as he was unable to sense his uncle anywhere.

"Giving up so easily?"

Jaune's eyes widened as he rolled to the side, dodging a Helm Breaker courtesy of his uncle. Dante hefted Rebellion on his shoulder, smirking at him. The Arc Scion clicked his tongue in annoyance and aimed Blue Rose, before it was wiped away and replaced with a smirk.

"I guess this doesn't quite cut it." he decided as he holstered away his gun.

Quickly, he back flipped to where Red Queen was. He kicked it up into the air and grabbed it, revving it up to show his excitement. Dante looked at his sword for a split second then copied his nephew's actions, making him lightly chuckle. The two of them charged and exchanged fast strikes at each other. It ended up in a stalemate and their last strike sent them sliding both back.

However, Jaune managed to use this to his advantage. With a roar, he summoned out his spectral arm and grabbed Dante, dragging him to him. He struck his uncle thrice, then sent a vicious uppercut to his jaw, launching him into the air. He grabbed him once again with his arm and slammed him down harshly onto the ground, making him bounce. Jaune cocked back his arm and punched his uncle straight in the gut, sending him towards a tree.

And as the coup de grace, he threw Rebellion at his uncle, impaling him in the chest and pinning him to the tree.

Jaune clapped off the dust on his hands and smiled in triumph, until it was wiped off from his face when his uncle disappeared in a wisp of red smoke. He cried out in pain as the blade of Alastor pierced his chest and sent out currents of lightning frequently shocking him. Behind him, Dante held the Devil Ar, a scolding look on his face.

"Something to keep in mind when you're fighting someone, kid - Premature celebration can get you killed."

Dante pulled out his sword and roared as he unleashed a streaming barrage of sword slashes, which seem to dance around Jaune with breakneck speed. He momentarily stepped then resumed with a literal Million Stab, stabbing the blond in blinding speed. And for the finale, three hard slashes and ended it with a home run swing as his blade glowed a bright red.

Jaune cried out in pain as he crashed into the tree, full of wounds ad bruises. He tried to push himself up but Dante stomped down his foot on his chest and aimed Ivory at his head. The blond groaned out loud and surrendered.

"Alright. You win."

Dante smirked and placed away Ivory back on his holste. He got off his nephew and helped him stand up, dusting his clothes. "You were close, Jaune. Close, but no cigar. Got a bit way over your head, just like every time."

The Son of Vergil kept silent as he cracked his neck, a bit sore about his growing loss record to his uncle, as he healed up, but nonetheless, he smirked and took it in good nature. "Well, I can't exactly improve if you keep holding back on me. I'll take a loss if it means I can get stronger."

"That's the spirit." said Dante. "Your Royal Guard needs a bit more training on the timing. That's why some of my bullets managed to break through. Overall, your combat ability is far greater than when we started four years ago."

"_Four__ years ago… That would mean that it's been five years since I've met my uncle. Wow, has it really been that long?" _Jaune thought to himself.

Indeed, five years had passed since Dante first agreed to train Jaune. A lot of things had changed in that span of time. Jaune had grown from being scrawny to being a tall and fit fourteen-year old boy, practically like a statue chiseled out of marble. Well, as best as a fourteen-year old could do. His hair grew longer, now reaching up to cover his ears and combed nicely.

His outfit consisted of a long, dark blue coat with a red inner lining with a brown harness. Under the coat he wore a red zip-up hoody with two zippers under his coat and a black shirt beneath that. On his left wrist, he has a red wristband held in place with a small brown belt. And on his right hand, he wore a blue and red glove, strapped in place by a brown belt. For his legs, he wore a pair of blue pants held up by a belt with a belt buckle in the shape of two overlapping arcs. Over his pants, he wore brown thigh straps with small belts in them. Jaune wore brown boots that went halfway up his shins.

Dante too, decided to have a wardrobe change. He kept the red pants, but wore black, leather motorcycle chaps and a brown, cowboy boot design around the ankles. He wore black, loafer looking boots, and black gloves exposing his knuckles and index finger on each hand, and his pants were wrapped with a black belt featuring a silver emblem decorated with a demonic skull. His coat looked more stylish and detailed, colored an almost crimson red. It was short-sleeved, with numerous gold-colored studs decorating the shoulders, collar, and chest, and a single zipper on the front. Underneath it was a black, zipped up undershirt with three clasps closed together with ornate, golden buckles, and medium-length sleeves. His hair was much more shorter, and kept, his eyes no longer hidden.

Jaune was snapped out his musing as Dante's Scroll started ringing. The half-devil was quick to fish it out and accepted the call. "Talk to me. Lady? What? You're kidding me. Now? Alright, alright. Fine. I'm on my way, and I'll bring pizza." And he hung up.

"Got a mission, Uncle D?"

"Nah. Lady just found something interesting, and wants me to come see it now. Nothing too important." Dante started walking away, giving his nephew a salute goodbye. "I'll see you later, kid."

Jaune nodded, and waved goodbye to his uncle. He walked up to the shade of the tree and sat under it, enjoying as the cool breeze brushed against his face. The hybrid smiled as he made himself comfortable. A barking sound attracted his attention as something scampered towards him. Jaune laughed out loud as it jumped into his chest, nuzzling him. It was a little wolf. About the size of a young Atlesian husky. His fur was a charcoal black and his eyes colored icy blue.

"Hey, Fenris. You had a good nap?" he asked.

The wolf pup locked his face as confirmation. He got off his owner's chest and rolled around the ground, amusing Jaune. Fenris then stopped, lying on his back and presented his stomach. The young teen hummed, knowing what his pet wanted and gave him a tummy rub. Fenris barked out in joy as he enjoyed his master actions.

Jaune smiled, as his mind drifted back to the day he first met Fenris.

* * *

_Around two years ago_

_Jaune smiled as he headed back home, waving goodbye to Pyrrha. He ran through the streets until, on a whim, decided to make a detour through the woods. There wasn't any Grimm nor was there any demons, so it was perfectly safe for a kid like him to go through._

_He spent the next twenty minutes running, enjoying the sounds of nature. Soon enough, in the distance, he could see the road that led to his house. Jaune smiled and pushed further, until a loud whine attracted his attention. He skid to a stop and turned to the bushes. _

"_H-Hello?" __he called out uncertainly._

_The whining grew louder, and this time, Jaune could hear the pain in it. He pushed apart the bushes and saw a wolf pup lying on the ground, bleeding. Near by, there was a cage, dented and broken. The first thing that flared inside of the blond was to help out the poor wolf._

_He took off his hoody and carefully wrapped it around the injured pup. Once secured, he made a beeline towards his house. He barged into the living room, calling out to his older sister. _

"_Noir! You in here?" When he received no response, he called out to the others. "Mom! Luna? Saph? Sol? Anyone home?"_

_Nothing. No response, meaning he was all alone. Jaune shook his head and ran up to his room. He gently placed down his rolled up top onto his bed and unfurled it to release the little pup. After making sure it was still breathing, he rushed towards two destinations - the bathroom and Noir's room._

_From the bathroom, he retrieved a clean rag, a small water basin and some soap. He went back to his room and placed them there before heading to his sister's room. Jaune looked around, trying to find a medical kit. She was a soldier, so, she should have one. Finally, he spotted a box with a red plus right underneath his sister's bed._

_As he retrieved it, Jaune loudly wondered to himself. "Why would she hide the medical kit under her bed?" He carefully opened it up…and was greeted with something that was definitely not medical supplies._

"_Nope! Nope! Nope! Nope!" he repeatedly shouted as he slammed back the cover and pushed it back under the bed,completely traumatized at what see. "I didn't see anything. I didn't see ANYTHING!"_

_He was swift to tune out the memory and focused on the matter at hand. Luckily, he had managed to find the actual medical supplies a minute later. Jaune rushed back to his room and went to work. First, he gently pressed on the pup's wounds, making blood drip out until it no longer did. Next, he cleaned up the wounds with the rag after soaking it, making sure to be gentle. After that, he opened up the med kit and grabbed the disinfectant spray._

"_If you can understand me, brace yourself. This will hurt a bit."_

_Once he started spraying, the wolf pup whined and growled in pain, but didn't thrash around, luckily. And finally, he wrapped gauze bandages around the wounds after applying some cream over it. Jaune took a few steps back to look at his work. Admittedly, his work was sloppy at best but that was all he could do by himself. The pup gently craned its head and let out a little bark to tell the blond he was fine._

_Jaune smiled at this and sat down beside it. He hovered his hand over to pet the wolf, but hesitated, not sure if it would like being pet. The pup saw this and gave the boy's palm a lick. The blond smiled and gently petted the wolf. "So, do you want to stay here for a moment until you get healed up?"_

_The wolf seemed to think about it for a moment and nodded, doing its best impression of a smile, which somehow involved with its tongue hanging out. Jaune laughed and just rubbed the pup's head._

* * *

And despite having been healed, Fenris decided to stay with the Arc family as their pet. Jaune was ecstatic, and the others received him warmly, acting like what a normal pet dog would. Apart from Dante, who, for some reason, was wary of the wolf pup. But, he didn't let it bother him, and just accepted it.

He had also reported to the authorities about the possibility of an illegal hunter roaming in Mistral, remembering the cage that contained Fenris. Unfortunately, nothing came up in investigations and it was closed.

A ringing sound snapped Jaune out of his reminiscence. He took out his Scroll and there on the screen was a picture of him and Pyrrha during his birthday. The two of them were wearing party hats, their faces covered in cake. He chuckled at the memory and answered the call.

"Hey, Pyr."

"**Hey yourself. Think we can hangout today? There's something I've been wanting to tell you."**

"Sure." shrugged Jaune. "Don't really got anything to do today. It would be great to see you again."

"**Perfect. So, the usual spot then?"**

"Yup. Say, you mind if I bring along Fenris?"

"**Of course not! I wouldn't mind seeing the cute, wittle puppy again."**

Jaune chuckled and bid farewell to his friend, hanging up on her. He put away his Scroll and patted on the wolf's head. "Wake up, boy. We're gonna go to the park and meet up with Pyrrha."

Fenris perked up at the name of his owner's friend. He liked Pyrrha. She smelled nice and treated his owner nicely too. That, and she gave great treats. Man and pet went into the house. Jaune grabbed the collar off of the rack and secured it around Fenris's neck. The collar was a simple, white leather one with icycle patterns around it. With that, the two of them headed out for the park.

* * *

Pyrrha stared at the people that walked by her as she quietly sat at the bench, waiting for her best friend. The young redhead, like Jaune, had grown, with clear signs that she's going through puberty. She grew taller, her hair was longer, she's lost some of her child fat yet gained some around her limbs, and more importantly, she was starting to become more feminine in terms of her body shape, along with her… noticeable growing curves.

Pyrrha looked down on her Scroll to check the time, when a shadow loomed over her.

"Hey, did I keep you waiting?"

The young girl looked up and saw Jaune standing over her with a smile. She returned it and shook her head. "No, I haven't been waiting long."

The blond looked relieved and took a seat besides her. Fenris scampered up to occupy the space between them and barked at Pyrrha in greeting. She redirected her smile at the young wolf and petted him, making sure to scratch behind his ears. They then sat in silence, apart from the occasional noise from Fenris. Jaune decided to finally break the awkward quietness blanketed around them.

"So, what's the matter? From over the phone, it seemed like you have a life-long secret you wanted to tell me."

"No. Nothing like that. The only thing I wanted to say was that…I'm gonna enroll into Sanctum Academy."

Jaune smiled, clearly happy for her, but was also a bit confused. "That's great but, why the need to tell me this personally? You could have just told me over the Scroll."

Pyrrha looked at her friend, doubt clouding her. "It's just that…am I enrolling for the right reasons? The reason I want to get into Sanctum and become a Huntress is because I want to become stronger. Those years ago, at the fair, I felt completely useless. I couldn't do anything against those monsters."

"And neither could I." shot back Jaune. "Pyrrha, we were just kids back then. There was no way we could have fought back against them."

"But you did." quietly said Pyrrha. "You managed to beat some of them, while I was just in the sidelines. I realized then, that I needed to get stronger. Because, what can I do if it happens again? What if you're not there to save me, like last time? That's why I… I need to become stronger, not just to protect myself but to protect you too!"

Jaune said nothing as he looked at his friend. He placed his hand, his demonic hand, over hers and squeezed it. "Pyr, there's nothing with getting stronger. I know, I felt the same back then, I just got lucky I inherited my father's bloodline. It's not the right reason, nor is it the wrong. Some would say it's greedy, but what would they know? They never encountered what we did. It's okay to enroll for those reasons, but down the line, you and I both know that the power we'll get, we'll use to make sure that something like that never happens again. And not just us, we got Uncle Dante, my mom and my sisters to help us out. Just go with what your heart tells you, and know that I'll support you all the way."

Pyrrha smiled, and couldn't help but tear up at her friends words. Fenris took notice of this and tried to comfort his owner's friend by gently licking at her face. She wiped away her tears and patted Fenris on the head.

"Thank you, Jaune. And thank you too, Fenris."

The blond smiled back and wrapped the redhead in a hug, in which she tightly reciprocated. "Hey, what are friends for?"

The two of them stayed like that for what seemed to be eternity, but in actuality, it was just a few seconds, until they broke off. As Jaune was about to suggest something, a voice cheerfully called out to them.

"Hey, you guys!"

Jaune and Pyrrha looked to the right and saw a certain orange-haired girl in pink run at them as she waved, being followed closely by a male teen in green. These were Eleanor "Nora" Valkyrie and Ren Redgrave, formerly known as Lie Ren, the two children that Dante and Jaune had discovered.

It took quite a while for them to recover, and it took even longer for them to open up due to the years of abuse they suffered at the hands of the scientists.

Eleanor "Nora" Valkyrie was nothing like the girl she was years ago. Back then, she was reclusive and shy. However, thanks to the efforts of Dante's doctor friend and Trish, she came out of her shell and became the bubbly, happy-go-lucky girl she is today. Trish had then made the decision to adopt her, being the one to rename her new daughter. And as a bonus, she had already unlocked her Semblance, which worked in-tandem with Trish's abilities.

Ren was a bit harder to get through with. He was far more mistrustful of the adults and didn't let any of them in, until Dante had managed to do so by having a heart-to-heart with him, talking about each other's pasts. This had managed to convinced Ren and became what he was now, a usually mellow guy, that has a sassy streak. Dante, despite all his flaws, was quite good with children, and so decided to take in Ren as his son. With Ren, he saw this as a new beginning. He discarded his old name of Lie, and took up Ren as his first name, if only to remind him of family. And so, Ren Redgrave was born.

The two stood up from their seats and went to meet up with them. "Hey. Funny meeting you guys here." said Jaune. "So, were you two out for a stroll or did Uncle D send you off to an errand?"

"A bit of both." responded Ren. "It looked like Dad, Aunt Lady and Miss Trish were going to discuss something important, so we decided to make ourselves scarce and head for the local pizzeria. You guys wanna come with?"

Pyrrha and Jaune agreed wholeheartedly. The blond picked up his pet wolf and scratched his ears. "What about you, boy? Do you wanna come with?"

Fenris merely responded by happily licking his face, making him and the others laugh. Nora grinned and dramatically pointed at the direction of where the pizzeria was. "Tally ho! Before the pancake pizzas run out!"

The orange-haired girl dashed off, leaving the four of them in the dust. They all shook their heads in amusement before running to catch up with Nora.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

Jaune sighed happily as he pushed open the door. He really enjoyed hanging out with his three friends. It was great to have people your age that could have fun with and understand easily. Sure, it was just them, but it didn't bother him. To him, they were enough because they judged him for him. They were true. And that's the only thing that mattered to him.

He pulled off Fenris's leash and collar, and rubbed him affectionately, urging him to go and play out. The wolf pup barked at him and ran off. Jaune smiled and was about to go to his room, until he heard his mother shouting.

"Absolutely not!"

The teen blinked, caught off-guard by his mother's tone. Besides the time she figured out he was being bullied, he had never heard her be angry. She was always mellow, nice and polite, so why would she be mad? Jaune did his absolute best to remain quiet as he sneaked to the kitchen. He hid behind the wall and peaked into the room to see that Jeanne was talking to Dante. He pushed down his surprise and listened in on their conversation.

Dante sighed and looked at his sister in-law. "Jeanne…" he started. "Please understand. Jaune needs to come with me on this mission. Trust me, he's gonna be fine. Besides, Trish and Lady are gonna be coming with us."

"Then why do you need to drag my son along with? The three of you are enough to do whatever this mission entails. He may be his own person, but I am still his mother. And it's our duty to protect our children and make sure they're safe. I know first-hand of the dangerous of that island, because I used to live there. So give me one good reason why I should let Jaune join you?"

The Son of Sparda uncrossed his arms and didn't even hesitate on his answer. "Because we found it, Jeanne. We found his birthright. A memento from father to son. For all intents and purposes, Vergil's legacy."

Jeanne's eyes softened, knowing what exactly Dante was talking about. Vergil would talk about it frequently with fondness. How it had always helped him in his time of need, and how it used to be his partner. "You're talking about the Yamato?"

Dante nodded. "Yeah. When me and Lady were first scoping out the island, I felt its presence calling out to me. At first, I didn't notice it, because the pulse was weak, but Rebellion managed to pick it up and tell me."

The blade behind Dante's back glowed momentarily and spoke in a baritone voice.** "I have no doubts. It was, indeed, my older sister. Her separation from her master had rendered her weak. She's in desperate need of someone that help her. There's no doubt that Jaune is that someone."**

The Arc matriarch didn't respond and instead sat down, looking contemplatively. The half-devil then proceeded.

"Look, I know that you worry about the kid, but sooner or later, he's gonna have to leave the nest. But that doesn't mean he can't come back. He's of Sparda, so trust me on this. He'll be completely fine. I need to know how far he's come. And if things get rough, I'll pull him out."

The nephilim sighed deeply, yet a smile encompassed her face. "You Sparda men really are hard-headed and stubborn. I guess it's a family trait. Alright, I'll let him come with. But please, look after him."

"You have my word."

It was at this moment that Jaune decided to walk in, acting like he didn't hear anything from them. "Hey, mom. I'm back." He looked at his uncle then feigned surprise. "Uncle Dante? What are you doing here? Do you need me for something?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." He took a sip from the teacup in front of him before standing up. "You up for a little camping trip, kid?"

Jaune quirked an eyebrow as he sat down next to his mom. "Well, that depends, where are we camping?"

"Well you tell me - Have you ever heard of Fortuna?"

* * *

**The Next Day**** \- Bullhead Air Docks**

"Got everything you need?" asked Dante

Jaune simply nodded as he secured his bag and slung it over his shoulder. It was early in the morning and he and Dante were about to head off to Fortuna via Bullhead. Jeanne was seeing them off, with Ren and Nora by her side

The blonde nephilim hugged her son and planted a kiss goodbye on his forehead. "Stay safe, okay? Be sure to follow what your uncle tells you. And most importantly, have fun."

Jaune smiled and hugged back. "Don't worry, mom. I'll be careful."

While mother and son chatted, Dante turned to Ren and placed a hand over his shoulders. "I'm sorry to leave all of a sudden. We'll probably be gone for a few months. I'd take you with us, but-"

Ren smiled in assurance. "It's fine, father. Nora and I aren't ready to be fighting just yet. We want to feel no burden for a bit longer."

The Arc Scion faced his adopted cousin and stretched out his fist. He smiled and bumped it with his own

"And don't worry, Jaune I'll be sure to take care of Fenris while you're away."

"You better!"

Having said their goodbyes, uncle and nephew prepared to leave, until-

"Jaune! "

The blond turned his head and saw Pyrrha standing there, looking sad with her hands behind her back. She took a few steps forward until she was face-to-face with her first friend.

"You could've told me you were going away. I thought there'd be no secrets between us?"

Jaune flinch and looked apologetic. "Sorry, Pyr. I didn't get the time to tell you last night, I had to pack up. Me and Uncle Dante are going on a little trip. We'll be gone in a few months, I'm afraid."

"I see..." sadly replied the redhead. She showed off what she was hiding and gave it to Jaune. It was a small box wrapped with a red ribbon. "Here. It's a little gift that I bought for you. I guess it can be something to remember me by."

Jaune accepted the gift and looked touch. He put in his bag and enveloped the redhead in a tight hug. "Thanks. Just because of that, I'm gonna bring home a souvenir, just for you."

Pyrrha smiled, wanting to enjoy the moment forever. Unfortunately, it didn't. Trish had to break the moment as she popped out of the Bullhead they were gonna board.

"Hey, come on and pick up the pace! We're burning daylight!"

The two were miffed and broke away from the embrace. Jaune closed his eyes and sighed. He took a few steps back and smiled sadly at his first friend, bidding her goodbye.

"Until then, Pyr."

He and Dante swiveled and entered the aircraft. The Bullhead closed off its hatch as the two waved to them. Jeanne, Ren, Nora and Pyrrha all waved back as it ascended into the air and took off, bidding them good luck on their journey.

* * *

**I****f you got any questions, feel free to leave them in the reviews and I'll try my best to answer them.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	8. The Act Approaches

"You want me to do what?!"

Dante winced at his nephew's tone. Currently, he, Jaune, Trish and Lady were still aboard the Bullhead heading towards Fortuna. And he had just told their plan to Jaune. Judging from his reaction, it was obvious that he didn't agreed with it. Dante sighed and tried to explain it better to the teen.

"Jaune, look. I know it sounds stupid, but trust me when I say that this is the best possible way. From what we've gathered, the Order of the Sword has been gathering numerous Devil Arms and pieces of demons that have washed up from Mallet Island, including your father's sword, the Yamato. For what, we don't know, but we have two ways of going through this. One is having Trish infiltrate the Order by offering the Devil Sword Sparda to instantly become a high-ranking member gain their trust."

"Devil Sword Sparda?" parroted Jaune. "I don't think I've seen that Devil Arm. And- wait. It's named after grandpa?"

Trish walked up to him, holding a gigantic sword. It had three separate blades. One having an elaborate half forming a small blade that curved around the handle. A spine-like structure attached to two curved blades via an organic looking substance. Together the blades form one long blade. The top portion has a large glowing red gem-like object in the center. The other side has two significantly smaller gems, glowing orange and pink.

"This is the Sparda. It was forged by your grandfather, and is imbued with his tremendous power. Originally, it was a sword called the Force Edge, which was it dormant form, until Dante awakened it during his battle with Mundus. Here." Trish handed over the sword to Jaune, whom tentatively took it from her.

As soon he took it, he gasped, feeling a spark of power course through him. The Sparda glinted purple, gaining an apprehensive reaction from the three devil hunters. Then, Jaune heard a voice speak to him. It was powerful. It was intimidating… But it also felt familiar. Like a grandchild meeting his grandfather for the first time.

"**_Hello, young Jaune. It's such a pleasure to meet you, albeit not physically. I never though that Eva and I would become grandparents! It's shocking, yet it makes me happy beyond what I could comprehend. Yes. This feeling, it's exactly why I turned against my brethren and fought for the humans and Faunus. A shame that Eva and I can never truly meet you and your sisters in person. It would be a great moment, and I could have given you all pets while Eva could have baked you her legendary cake!"_**

The glint around the sword began to fade, making Sparda hum in disappointment.

"**_It looks like we have to cut this short. Know that we will always be watching over you, protecting you from what harm that we can. I know you'll do great things in the future. Goodbye, my grandson. Good luck, and take care."_**

Jaune groaned as he dropped the Devil Sword and fell to his knees, clutching his head. Dante rushed up to him, worry plastered over his face. "You okay, kid? That never happened before, so we didn't know how to react."

The blond grunted, being helped up by his uncle and carried over to the seats. "I'm fine…" He looked at the Sparda as Trish carefully picked it up. "Grandpa spoke to me through the sword, told me that he wanted to meet me and was proud that he had a grandchild like me."

Dante's brows shot up in surprise. In all his life, he never expected something like that to ever happen. It kind of left him speechless. Although, he had to admit, from what memories he had his father, he always displayed himself as an absolute genius…and a bit of a madlad.

"_Only you, dad… Only you."_

The rest of the ride, everything went quiet as they patiently waited to arrive at their destination. Boredom peaked in Jaune's mind, wanting to do something. His eyes turned to the right and saw Lady polishing her weapons. To the corner, Trish was idly standing by, staying absolutely still. Meanwhile, Dante was on his Scroll. Amicably chatting with someone. With nothing else to do, his mind wandered to the gift that Pyrrha had given him before they departed.

He picked it up ever so gently and slowly untied the ribbon, allowing him to open it up. He softly gasped as inside was golden locket, with his family's symbol at the front, but it also intersected with the Nikos family emblem. Gingerly, he grabbed the locket, looking at it with a smile. He pressed the button on the locket, opening it up s it revealed a little picture of him and Pyrrha…five years ago. A somber look was now on his face as the memories sprung up. It may have ended with a sour note…but he was glad all the same, because he got to meet her and learn of his uncle.

Jaune closed the locket and hung it over his neck, touching at it with utmost fondness. _"Thanks, Pyrrha… This is a good reminder for what I'm fighting for."_

After a few hours, the intercom crackled to life as the pilot's voice boomed out. **"Get ready. We're closing in on Fortuna!"**

In an instant, the four sprung out of their seats and to the windows. In the distance, they could distinctly make out the island. The most prominent thing about it was its buildings, all styled like it was still the Medieval era. Dante crossed his arms, a smile on his lips.

"There it is. Fortuna. Alright, Jaune get ready for your part."

"Wait, mind repeating what my part was again?" Jaune asked with snark. "I completely forgot because of how stupid it was! Seriously? You want to shoot me in the head then dump me into the ocean, hoping I get picked up by some random member of the Order then act like I have amnesia to get their trust? This all sounds really stupid. Trish is already infiltrating the Order, shouldn't I be with you and Lady."

Lady spoke up for the first time since they've departed, being the one to explain. "It's a good back up plan. With Trish's part, there's a high chance that they'll find out she's not actually on their side, even if she did bring them the Sparda. Meanwhile, you're a kid. They won't expect something from you. That way, you can probably meet up with each other for progress reports and make it easier to do."

Jaune frowned. Nonetheless, he sighed reluctantly before looking at Dante with a slightly angry look. "Fine, I'll do it. But you owe me!"

"Name your price after we get home." Dante drew out Ebony and...teleported behind his nephew then whacked over the back of his head with said pistol.

Jaune crumpled over in a heap, unconscious, his hair stained with blood. Dante holsteed back his gun and grabbed his nephew by the shoulders, dragging him over the hatch. He opened it up and pushed him off, watching as his body splashed into the ocean.

Trish walked up to the half-devil with an amused look. "You do know he'll be furious at you for scaring him like that?"

Dante shrugged indifferently. "Yeah, but I have a pretty good idea what he wants from me. So that will make us even."

"How exactly will he be picked up in that state?" asked Trish.

"The waves are carrying him off to the beach." he explained, crossing his arms. "Now, from what Lady and I gathered, a couple of members of the Order usually take a little morning stroll through it. Any of them will be fine. And as for Jaune, he'll pull through. We just need to put our trust in him."

* * *

**At Fortune Beach**

Two people were strolling down the sand, chatting as they did so. One was a male in his 20s. He had brown, swept back brown-colored hair, along with a sharp goatee and hazel eyes. He was wearing a long white coat with white pants and high boots, golden designs on both the shoulders and the sleeves. The other was a girl, around age 14. She had auburn hair. Her bangs are worn short and parted, with most of it swooping over her right eye and several strains swooping over her left eye. Like the man, she had hazel-colored eyes, but were tinted with an emerald green. Her skin was also fairly pale. She wore a simple white dress, that is reminiscent of a performer of a hymn in church.

"Thank you for agreeing with this, Credo."

"Anything for my little sister. Besides, it has been quite a while since we've last had a chat. I suppose the Order has been taking up most of the time since I've been appointed as Captain of the Holy Knights. I'm sorry about that, Kyrie."

Kyrie gently shook her head, not at all minding. "I'm not troubled by it, brother. Well, sure, it does get a bit lonely at our home, but it does give me a lot of time to talk with my penpal... That, and to stay up all night and watch those movies you've stashed away."

"Breaking your curfew, I should have expected that." said Credo, cracking a small smirk in amusement.

He was about to say something else, but he was promptly cut off by his sister, who gasped and pointed at something by the shore.

"C-Credo, look!"

Credo turned to where she was looking with an inquisitive expression. His brows shot up as he saw a young boy, near Kyrie's age, lying down, unconscious as the waves kept on washing over his body. The first thing that came into his mind was his duty - to help those in need.

Credo and Kyrie rushed over to the boy and gently pulled him out of the shore and into dry land, flipping him onto his back. He hovered his head over his chest. Much to his relief, he could hear a heart beat. Credo backed off as he heard a choking sound coming the boy. He suddenly got up started coughing off the water in his lungs, desperately breathing for air.

Once he had stopped, Credo knelt down besides him, looking at him worriedly. "Are you alright?"

The boy let out a shout of surprise and fear, quickly scurrying back to distance himself away from Credo. "W-Who are you? Where am I?"

The Holy Knights' Captain raised his hands in order to placate the panicking teen, giving him the best gentle expression he could muster. "Calm yourself, I mean you no harm. My name is Credo. And this is my sister, Kyrie. You are currently in Fortune Beach, in Fortuna. Tell me, do you know who you are? And perhaps how you somehow got into this predicament?"

"...N-Nero." he finally said after a period silence. "My name is Nero. And... And that's all I can remember." he realized, beginning to panic. "I, why can't I remember anything else?! How did I get here, and who are my family?!"

Kyrie crouched down, placing a hand on his shoulders to try and calm him down. "It's okay. It's alright. No one's forcing you to try and remember it all in one go. But, if it makes you feel better, we'll help you, right brother?"

Credo remained silent, but gave him a nod of assurance. Nero stared at the sand for a short while, before looking up with a weak smile.

"Thank you."

He grunted in uncertainty as he turned to the shore to see Red Queen wash up. Nero let out a loud shout as he clutched his head in pain. Credo eyed the sword curiously and approached it apprehensively, his hand hovering over his own weapon. When nothing happened, he knelt down to pick it up. His eyes lightly widened at the weight the thing carried.

"This...is heavy."

Nonetheless, he managed to carry it over to the white-haired teen for him to get a better look at it. "Is this sword familiar to you?"

"Y-Yeah... At least, I think?" Nero pushed himself up, staggering to stand. "I get...some bits and pieces of me holding it. So, I guess it is?"

"Then until we're certain, I'll have to take this with me." he declared as he secured it on his back. "Not just anyone can wield a sword in our humble island, so I have to confiscate this for the time being. I hope you can understand."

The amnesiac merely nodded in agreement. He fell down onto his back, his eyes lighting up in worry. "What am I gonna do? I can't remember any of my life, my family..."

Kyrie offered him a smile and a suggestion. "Maybe you can stay with us for now?"

"N-No. I don't wanna impose or anything."

Credo smiled, agreeing with his sister 's suggestion. "I concur. You have nowhere to go, Nero. It's best if you stay with us. Until you get back up your feet or recover your memories."

The white-haired teen looked unsure. He was hesitant. After all, he didn't know the two of them. Kyrie and Credo were total strangers to him. But, they were right. He had nowhere else to go, and they seemed nice enough. So, might as well, right?

"Sure."

* * *

**Six ****Months Later**

Nero had managed to settle quite well with the two siblings. He tried his best not to be a burden and helped out with house work. Credo wasn't always present, being busy and swamped with his work in the Order, but still, he made time to visit his sister and check up on him.

Life in Fortuna was pleasant...sort of. The people often treated him with indifference due to how different he was, and his refusal to wear their clothes since it made him uncomfortable. But at least, there were some who treated him quite amicably.

Something that surprised him was the presence of Faunus within the island. That, and they were treated equally. A far cry from what he could remember in his home.

Currently, he was lounging in the living room, trying to keep himself busy by reading some of the books from the shelf. Surprisingly, Fortuna had internet. However, he couldn't access it because he didn't have a Scroll. So he made do with old-fashioned books.

He hummed as he closed the book about Sparda's accomplishments throughout out the world. Nero sighed and slid it back into the shelf, looking out the window to stare at the shattered moon. The white-haired teen grunted and pushed himself up from the recliner, planning to get some shut eye...until he heard Kyrie seemingly speaking with someone.

Nero grew curious and silently sneaked up to the redhead's room. Slowly and carefully, he pushed the door ajar and saw Kyrie was sitting in front of her computer, a smile tugging at her face as she spoke to whoever was on the screen. He went back and decided not to bother her, considering it wasn't his business.

"Nero?"

Nero craned his head and saw Kyrie standing by the door. He looked slightly guilty as he walked up to the redhead. "Sorry, did I disturb you?"

She shook her head, a smile on her face. "No. I was just actually just about to go to bed myself. It was a penpal of mine, if you wondering. For the past years, Fortuna had been making contact with the mainland and decided to create a penpal program so we could make contact with others of the same age as us."

"I see… So, is there anything interesting about her that you can share with me?"

Kyrie hummed in thought. "Well, she and I have a lot in common. We both have someone who's overly protective of us. We like singing. We've both red hair. And we also love fairy tales! Although, she's an only child and is training to become a fighter."

"She sounds cool. Do you have any plans to ever meet her in person?"

A frown encompassed her face, a sigh escaping her lips. "I don't think that will ever be possible. Credo is incredibly overprotective of me and would've asked to come along with, in order to look after me. But, with his responsibilities with the Order, it's very impossible to do so."

And Nero couldn't blame her brother. One time, he had asked out of curiosity as to why it was only the two of them that lived in their house. It led to Kyrie tearing up and running off while Credo grew a somber expression. That day, he learned that their parents had been killed during a demon attack. They lost their lives as a result of protecting Kyrie.

This resulted in Credo becoming more protective over his only living family left. Which is why he had dedicated a lot of this time to the Order, so others wouldn't ever experience the same thing.

Nero admired and respected that decision, vowing to help him someday.

The white-haired teen apologized, which Kyrie dismissed, saying that he had nothing to be sorry for with a small smile.

"You really have a weird tendency to apologize for things that aren't really your fault. Like the time Credo spilled his coffee on himself."

"I bumped into him!" he argued.

Kyrie shook her head in amusement. "You slipped, because I didn't tell you I had just waxed the floor."

"Well, what about the time I made you trip and drop the cookies you were baking?"

"You didn't make me trip. I took a wrong step and fell. And besides, those cookies turned out bad, so no harm done."

When he was about to make a retort, Kyrie placed a hand over his shoulder, silencing him.

"Nero, please stop trying to make yourself feel bad. It was our decision to welcome you here. It was our choice to let you stay. We wanted you to feel comfortable so you can recover your memories more easily. So please, stop it."

Nero looked into her eyes and could see it pleading out to him. Again, this made him feel absolutely guilty. In the short time he had spent with the two siblings, he had come to hate seeing Kyrie sad. For whatever reason, it just made him feel horrible. It was like seeing either a kitten or a puppy drenched in the rain. He sighed and wrapped her in a hug, surprising her.

"I'm sorry…" he softly said. "You're right. I'm being a fool. I should just accept what I have right now and try not alienate you guys further… Thank you."

Kyrie closed her eyes and reciprocated the act. "You're welcome." she simply replied.

"Ahem."

The two turned to see Credo standing in the hall, arms crossed with an inquisitive look . Nero and Kyrie were quick to break away, the former coughing into his hand awkwardly. "Oh! Credo…you're back."

He merely grunted in acknowledgement "Nero. Kyrie. Still not sleeping, I see? It doesn't really matter." Credo turned to the amnesiac teen and nodded at him. "I needed to tell you something."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I know you've only been here for a few months…but His Holiness has decreed that you join the Order and help us with our crusade."

Both Kyrie and Nero's eyes widened in surprise, not at all expecting for Credo to suddenly drop a bombshell like that on them. The white-haired teen stepped forward, his face looking unsure. "Isn't that unwise, Credo? I've only been here for a few months, after all. So why would His Holiness want me to join?"

"I…am unsure myself. But it is the will of His Holiness, so I am inclined to follow."

Nero hummed, thinking about it for a few moments. He uncrossed his arms and smiled at the man, stretching out his hand for a shake. "Alright. I'll come with."

Credo smiled back and took the offered handshake. "Be at our headquarters, first thing in the morning. You will be facing a member of the Order to determine your ranking. Best of luck."

His only response was a cocky smirk, eyes blazing with determination.

* * *

"Welcome, Nero. We've been expecting you."

Before him sat an elderly man, wearing the clothes of a Vicar. He also exuded a grandfatherly aura, which soothed most of those that were near him. Surrounding him were numerous knights of the Order in a protective manner, all wearing a helmet that covered their entire face.

Nero looked at the elder man and bowed in respect. "A pleasure as well, Vicar Sanctus."

Normally, any one of the Knights would be exploding in outrage how Nero had refereed to him as such, but they took in consideration his condition and let it slide. That, and he's only been in Fortuna for a few months. Sanctus smiled and gestured for him to stand.

"You may not know it, but I sense great potential within you. I am also aware of your loss of memory. Perhaps, by joining the Order, there is a chance that some of the tasks may jog memories of your past. In order to join, you must prove yourself in a test of might. You may back out, however, if you so choose."

Nero shook his head and smirked in confidence. "No need to worry, Your Holiness. I'm willing to join the Order. I've been told that I need to best one of your soldiers in combat to be allowed in, right?"

"Indeed. However, you will need a weapon first." Sanctus raised his hands and made a gesture.

One of the knights approached the amnesiac teen, holding out a briefcase to him. Nero looked at it with slight wonder as he took it. He laid it down on the ground and clicked it open to see check what was inside. He gasped softly as he saw Red Queen, albeit disassembled.

"This is..."

"You need not worry, Nero. We merely added a few upgrades into your blade to make it much more powerful. I am sure you will find them quite suitable."

Nero softly smiled as he assembled the weapon. From what he could see, a Rev limiter of sort was built into the sword along with some kind of engine. If he were to actually rev up his sword, then the result would be-

He stood up and hefted the blade on his shoulder, looking ready to fight. "Alright. I'm ready."

"And you better be."

Nero blinked. Not at all suspecting for him to be his opponent. He spun around and saw Credo strode up to him, a sword secured on his hip. The Captain smirked, slightly enjoying the look on the teen's face.

"Surprised? I am the General of the Holy Knights. It is my duty to make sure that all of my men are suited, and ready for combat." Credo slowly drew out his weapon, pointing it at the teen. "I won't hold back, Nero. Now come, and show me what you've got!"

Nero could only smirk, accepting the man's challenge. He stabbed Red Queen into the ground and gave the grip a good twist, releasing engine sounds as the blade lightly glowed red.

Credo charged first with surprising speed and swung his weapon in an overhead strike. Nero pulled out Red Queen and blocked the attack. He grunted and pushed back Credo and the two exchanged quick yet decisive strikes, sparks flying out from each contact.

The older fighter managed to get the upper hand and struck the teen, pushing him back. Credo roared and released a multitude of strikes to his body, before finish it off with a revved up rising slash, sending him straight up.

Nero recovered and performed a Helm Breaker. Credo rolled out of the way, but was surprised as a Shuffle attack struck him and launched him into the air. The white-haired teen followed and delivered three successful blows, the last one sending Credo back down.

As the General of the Holy Knights pushed himself up, Nero went ahead and fully revved up Red Queen up to it maximum capacity, the blade now a dark red, as flames sparked out from its handle. The white-haired male roared and dashed forward, doing a Streak attack, the sweeping strikes covered in fire. Credo grunted as he was pushed back and his Duarandal into the floor, preventing him from sliding back any further.

"Come on, Credo. Is that all you got?" taunted Nero, making a come hither motion.

Credo merely smirked and stood up, switching up stances. Once more, he charged at the white-haired teen and locked swords. The two dashed back and traded blows. Credo then spun around, expertly blocking a slash from Nero. He pushed him back and started going on the offensive, forcing his opponent on the defensive. The General grunted and sent another overhead strike. This time, Nero was thrown back and had dropped Red Queen.

Before the teen could recover, he felt himself be pushed down by a boot, with a blade hovering over his throat. He gazed up, seeing Credo lightly glaring at him, his eyes telling him to surrender. Which, he did.

Credo nodded and stepped off the young teen, sheathing back his Durandal and helped up Nero. The General of the Holy Knights smiled at him with a hint of pride, like a father would. "You did well better than I expected, Nero. But, I have a lot more experience under my belt."

Nero sighed as he wound up his arm. "Yeah, I should have figured." He walked up to his fallen weapon and went to hand it to Credo. "Guess I failed then, huh?"

"Of course not."

The two of them turned to Sanctus, who had risen from his seat. A kind smile was on his lips as he approached the young teen and his general.

"You performed beyond my expectations, Nero. Your skills are admirable. Not many had managed to hit an attack on Credo. Like I said, you have potential. With the proper mentoring, you could become a powerful fighter. I'm sure you'll recover your memory this way. Welcome to Order of the Sword."

The other knights, along with Credo, faced the white-haired teen and saluted him. Nero fought the urge to cheer in excitement, choosing instead to restrain himself and crack a smirk instead.

"Well, now isn't this a surprise?" spoke out a regal, yet flirtatious voice.

Everyone faced to the left, and saw a beautiful woman standing at the entrance. She had tan skin and a platinum blonde, chin length bob. Her outfit consisted of a lacy, white one-piece with orange accents that exposed her chest and inner thighs. The chest area was held closed by a thick, orange chord zigzagging across both sides. The one piece had a loin cloth and a long tail. She wore white thigh-high, high-heeled boots. White, elbow-high gloves, folded at the top exposing orange lining. On her shoulder were and blue-feathered shoulder pads.

Nero's eyes shot up as a blush crept up his cheeks. As a fourteen year old teenager currently experiencing puberty, the lady in front of him made him feel certain things. That, and he felt that she was familiar. Sanctus looked at the woman and gave her a gentle smile.

"Ah, Gloria. You've returned safely from your mission. No trouble, I hope?"

The now named Gloria returned the smiled bowed to the Vicar. "Of course not, Your Holiness. It was quite an easy task you gave me." She tilted her head and looked at the blushing teen with curiosity. "And who would this young man be?"

Credo was the one to answer, putting himself in between them. "He is Nero - the newest member of the Order."

"I see." She strutted up to the teen, who had finally snapped himself out of his daze. Gloria smiled at Nero and offered her hand for a shake. "Let me be the first to welcome you to the Order. Like the others said, I am Gloria."

Nero looked at the extended hand and hesitated for a brief moment, before finally accepting. He internally gasped, as he felt a jolt course through his body. For a moment, he stared off in the distance, before shaking himself out of whatever he was feeling.

Nero and Gloria broke off their handshake, with the latter stepping back. The Order Executive turned back to Sanctus and bowed once again. "By your leave, Your Holiness. I shall return to my quarters."

Sanctus smiled and made a gesture, allowing Gloria to depart. But, before she did so, she turned to face Nero and gave a wink, making him blush in embarrassment and averted his gaze. She chuckled silently and left. The others then decided to follow suit and went away, leaving only Credo and Nero.

Credo approached his charge, giving him a curious gaze. "What is your opinion of her?"

The newly inducted member of the Order hummed as he crossed his arms in thought. "From what I can tell, there's more than meets the eye about her, but her intentions seem good. So, for now we can trust her, at least."

"That's the general consensus, yes. She gave us an essential piece for our goals that we thought we'd never obtained, and yet she managed to gift it to us."

Credo shook his head and focused back on the present, taking Nero's hand and shaking it. "Congratulations on passing, Nero, and welcome to the Order of the Sword."

"Heh. Thanks, Credo. So, when's my first mission?"

"Tomorrow, actually. It'll be a simple guarding mission. You, me and a small brigade of knights will preside over as Kyrie performs in the gathering and when His Holiness starts the sermon."

Nero nodded, a smile gracing his lips. "Then I'd better get ready. Thank you, Credo. You and Kyrie. For taking care of me while I recover my memories. You're a good friend."

The General of the Holy Knights smiled back and allowed himself to bump fists with the teen, since there was no one to see it. "You're welcome. It's quite the pleasure meeting you. Now, you'd best get back and prepare."

He wholeheartedly agreed. The two of them then left the room, heading back home.

* * *

**Now, we approach the Devil May Cry 4 storyline. As per usual, if you guys have any questions, feel free to leave them in the reviews down below. Thanks for reading. **


	9. The Time Has Come

**I know! It's way too early for me to be posting the update. It's not even Friday yet! But, I just felt like it, really. This chapter marks the start of the Devil May Cry 4 plot. Of course, it's condensed and goes straight to the important parts.**

**I've also decided to split this arc into three, hopefully, chapters. Next one is possibly to be posted on Saturday. Not sure yet. But we'll see. On another note, on a whim, I've decided to change Aurora's name to Jeanne. **

**Now, as for the Guest review... Not sure yet. Romance isn't really the main point. I mean, sure, it's there, but it's not the central thing in the story. Arkos is my bread and butter, and I'm not sure what you mean it's been used so many times, because nowadays, I scarcely see it. And if I do, it has NTR bullshit.**

**But like I said, still not sure. And so with that, on with the chapter!**

* * *

"Oh crap, I'm late!"

Nero ran through the empty streets of Fortuna, obviously in a hurry. Today was his first mission, and he was already running late. He had promised Credo and Kyrie that he'd be at Castle Town an hour before it began. But nooooo! Fate decided to screw him over and make him wake up an hour before the performance started.

"If Credo isn't gonna kill me, then Kyrie will probably skin me alive." he mumbled to himself as he turned left to an alleyway, which would directly lead him to the opera house.

Nero skidded to a halt as numerous beings began to emerge from all sides - the floor, the walls, and even from the buildings. All of them were, in essence, a burlap sack that resembled a simple scarecrow, mismatched and stitched up. Except one of their arms was an executioner blade, with an odd one out having it on their leg instead. What's more, they had demon bugs crawling around their bodies.

The white haired teen groaned in annoyance, realizing that he'll be even more late. "Oh great. I don't have time for this nonsense!"

He pulled back his coat, revealing a holster with Blue Rose secured in it. He drew his gun and fired his first shot at the Scarecrow. The bullet pierced the demon and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, before it struck and killed two more.

Nero jumped onto the wall, avoiding the strikes of two of the Scarecrows, then kicked himself off, firing off another two-shot which disposed off another pair. He landed down before dodging two blades with a twisting flip. The new Order knight used this opportunity and kicked them harshly into the wall, which was powerful enough to kill them.

Nero glared at the last Scarecrow, which was the one that had the blade leg. He holstered back his gun and made a come hither motion. The demon shrieked and jumped at him, spinning around like a disk. The teen grunted and caught its blade with his right arm, being pushed back a bit.

He clicked his tongue and finished it off by slamming the Scarecrow into the ground, cracking the pavement and obliterating its body. Nero dusted himself and quickly picked up the pace, if only to hear the last part of Kyrie's opening song.

Unbeknownst to him, a certain someone was watching from the roofs of the buildings, enjoying the little curb stomp. He looked at the opera house and chuckled, before making his way there as well.

* * *

In the nick of time, he got his wish. Nero sat down onto an unoccupied seat and made himself comfortable. His eyes locked onto Kyrie and smiled as he listened to her song, and safe to say, he was absolutely mesmerized. Even though there had already been numerous times when he had heard Kyrie sing, it still amazed him how beautiful her voice was.

And for some reason, it also made him feel a bit guilty.

He pushed down the feeling and stood up with the rest as they clapped for the girl's stunning performance. The spotlight on her turned off, and allowed her to step off as her brother announced the arrival of Sanctus.

The Vicar of Sparda gave a gentle smile before starting off the sermon with the history on how Fortuna had began. While Nero idly listened to something he had already read about numerous times, Kyrie sat right besides him, giving him a lightly furious glare. Nero quickly noticed this and could do nothing but give her a sheepish smile.

"You're late. You missed most of my song."

"Sorry! I woke up just an hour ago... But, hey, at least I was here for the end, right? Better late than never?"

Kyrie could only roll her eyes and smile at his response. The sermon went on...until Nero realized that he was getting bored. In fact, he was starting to fall asleep. So, when Sanctus had asked for the others to join him in a prayer, they bowed their heads and clasped their hands, allowing Nero to stand up without so much of a fuss.

Kyrie stopped him for a moment, grabbing him by the wrist. "Nero, where are you going? The sermon isn't over yet."

"Guess me and religion really don't mix. It's better I leave than stay and make a scene. Wouldn't want to disrespect their faith."

Before he could even take another step, a figure burst through the ceiling and and landed in front of Sanctus. Before the Vicar could even react, the man aimed a gun at his chest and pulled the trigger, shooting him straight on the chest.

Everyone gasped and looked up as the assassin slowly stood up and turn around, facing the crowd. There stood Dante, his uncharacteristically serious face splattered with blood, looking at the numerous citizens of Fortuna as the body of Sanctus fell down.

"Your Holiness!" cried out Credo in horror.

The crowd erupted into a massive uproar as they descended into a state of panic, trying to get out of the opera house. Nero quickly grabbed Kyrie and ushered the rest to evacuate the premises. Credo looked at his knights as they drew their swords and rushed off to face the assassin while he checked on Sanctus.

The knights' attempt were all but naught as they were effortlessly dispatched by Dante, whom only needed one blow to dispatch all of them.

Credo cradled Sanctus's corpse, in disbelief that their high priest had been killed in a place of worship. He silently mourned their leader's death, as his forces were all struck down. Dante slowly approached the General, gaining Kyrie's attention. She broke off from Nero, her worry for her brother overtaking her.

"Kyrie, no!" he shouted, reaching out in worry.

A knight tried to attack the assassin from behind, but had been anticipated, Dante decapitating him and sending his corpse to trip down the poor teen girl. Kyrie tried to push herself up but the fear inside her shot up as she found Dante standing over her, staring menacingly.

Nero quickly acted and rushed off to dropkick the man in the face, sending him flying. The teen planted down his foot and drew out Blue Rose and fired off a shot. Dante slammed down Rebellion, only to be pushed towards his father's statue. Before he could act, Nero had swiftly followed and kicked the sword into Sparda's head and aimed his revolver while Dante challenged this with Ebony and Ivory.

"Nero!" cried out Kyrie in worry, only to be pushed back by Credo, his sword now drawn and pointed it at the assassin.

"Kyrie! Go with your brother and get out of here."

"I will return with help. You stall him until then!"

With his order, Credo dragged off his sister while his remaining soldiers carried off Sanctus's corpse. Nero glared at the older man, whom merely smirked back.

Dante disappeared in a dash and sent a side kick. Nero blocked it then pushed him back, taking a shot. The half-devil grunted and merely swerved around it, firing off bullets of his own. The amnesiac slid over it and tried to do a leg takedown. Dante quickly saw this and jumped away, continuing to fire.

Nero rolled back and grabbed Rebellion, throwing it back at its owner. This served as a distraction as Dante caught it, not suspecting Nero would follow to strike him over the head. He grabbed him by the hem of his coat and tossed him over to the ruined stands.

The Order of the Knight member jumped after and fired at the assassin. Dante smirked and kicked up the stands, blocking him from view. Nero landed down and surveyed his surroundings. His eyes widened as the cambion emerged from the side, performing a Stinger attack. He raised his right hand and the whole room erupted in a blue light as he caught the blade's tip.

For the first time today, Dante finally spoke, chuckling. "Finally. The Devil Bringer's come out to play."

Much to his surprise, Nero remained silent, and instead insisted on glaring at him. The teen pulled back and delivered a vicious straight, launching Dante back into the stands. Nero roared and materialized a spectral arm, using it to pry off the large sword the statue was holding, and tossed it at Dante.

The red-clad assassin craned his head, the sword narrowly missing him. Nero grunted, dusting off his hands as he approached his opponent.

"Gonna have to clean things up here before the cavalry arrives."

Dante merely smiled. He rushed off and went for an overhead strike, which was then caught by Nero. The teen pulled down the blade and delivered a butterfly kick to the older man's face, pushing him back. He wrestled Rebellion out of his hands and backhanded him into the seats.

Nero dropped down the sword and went for another dropkick. Dante grabbed him by the leg and harshly slammed him into the ground. He dashed back, dodging the bullet that was shot. The amnesiac managed to surprise him and pushed him down to the ground.

With Dante at his mercy, he went ham and started rapidly pummeling him onto the ground, each blow, stronger than the last. It reached to the point that the flooring below them was now completely obliterated. And, for the coup de grace, he hoisted him up then threw him at the statue of Sparda, pinning him with his own sword. With one last breath, his arms fell limp as his eyes lost its life. Then, for good measure, Nero put a bullet in between his eyes.

No sooner did this happen, reinforcements arrived, led by Credo. All of them looked in awe as they saw Dante's body hang limp from the statue of their savior as Nero sat at the ruined center, catching his breath.

Credo approached the teen, whom looked back with a tired, yet proud smirk. "Guess I didn't need the help after all, huh?"

"I suppose so." giving his subordinate a smirk of his own.

The cries of their comrades got their attention as their bodies were sent flying. Before the two of them could react, a blast of red lightning flashed, blinding them. When it died down, Dante was no longer pinned to the statue of his own father, not actually dead and managed to give them the slip.

Nero clicked his tongue in annoyance and kicked one of the benches out of frustration. He had been played. Like a damned fiddle.

* * *

Credo paced back and forth, overseeing his men clear up all the broken rubble and carry out the corpses of their fallen comrades. Nero was leaning against the pillar, brooding, until he saw Kyrie approach them, dragging Red Queen with her. He jogged up to his friend, taking the weapon off of her.

"You didn't have to." he said. "I could have gotten it myself."

Kyrie shook her head, not at all minding. Nero smiled back as he secured Red Queen on his back and walked up to his superior officer, who had a fellow knight whisper something in his ear. Credo nodded and dismissed him, turning to face his sister and Nero.

"So, what's the sitrep, Credo?"

"That assassin, Dante, has been charged of high counts of murder and several acts of vandalism, and is to be captured immediately for due punishment. That will be your mission. The witnesses said that he was seen heading towards Fortuna Castle. Capture him. It is crucial that we get him alive."

Nero smirked and nodded."Trust me, I'll get it done."

"I'm counting on it. If you'll excuse me, I need to head back to make a report at headquarters."

Credo then left, leaving Kyrie and Nero all alone. The latter looked at the former, gently patting her head. "You should head back home. Things might get too messy."

"Mmm. Be safe, Nero."

"Heh. Don't you worry about me."

* * *

**Ferrum Hills**

Nero ventured deep into the abandoned mines, having dealt with numerous demons along the way. Nothing too troubling, just a bunch of mooks that weren't worth mentioning.

He had caught sight of his target go into here, making him wonder as to why he would he even bother going there, since there nothing noteworthy at the location. It wasn't until he arrived that he took notice of a long, black monolith-like item standing at the very end of the mines.

"A Hell Gate? Here?" he asked himself in surprise, and confusion.

He knew of the Hell Gate. It was the cultural monument situated at the very center at Castle Town of Fortuna. He had read how it, like its namesake suggests, was a portal to the underworld that Sparda had sealed off. However, the books stated that there was only one Hell gate, so now it begged the question, where did the one he was staring at come from?

His arm started to glow, making him apprehensive. It only did that when a demon was nearby. The portal began to glow a fiery red, making him stand at attention. A surge of fiery blaze burst out from the gate and a towering figure emerged.

It was a huge, flaming centaur-like demon, carrying a large sword, which looked as if it was made out of molten materials. The demon walked around as it's very presence set aflame to the poor buildings, leaving burning hoof prints at its wake.

**"The human world... It's been a while."** it spoke in a deep, guttural voice.

Nero and the demon walked pass each other, the latter paying no mind to the former as it observed its surroundings. The teen smirked and slammed down Red Queen, swinging it in a 360 degree sweep, kicking up air and dust that put out the burning buildings.

**"How curious." **This little act gained the demon's attention. He turned around to get a better look at Nero.

"Sorry, but fire's bad for the complexion. I burn easily, never tan!" he snarked out.

**"When I came to this world ****two thousand ****years ago, there was no human such as you."**

"Is that right?" Nero cracked a smirk, hefting up Red Queen on his shoulder. "How about we make that another two thousands?"

The demon didn't find this amusing and let loose pillars of flames to intimidate him. **"Insolent boy! You will suffer the wrath of Berial, the Conqueror of ****the ****Fire Hell!" **

Berial roared and thrust his giant flaming sword. Nero grinned and met it with his own, managing to stop the attack in its tracks. The white-haired teen pushed him back, causing the large demon to stagger.

The Conqueror of Fire Hell growled and swung his sword overhead. Nero grunted, blocking it with the Devil Bringer. He pushed it away and leaped up to the demon's chest, sending quick strikes before shooting him straight in the head with Blue Rose.

Berial flicked him away, then slammed down his blade, summoning pillars of flame, following after Nero. The Knight cried out in surprise as he found himself juggled and scorched, repeatedly. Berial quickly charged and rammed him into the wall.

Nero pried himself off and rolled out of the way of another ramming charge. He slid under the centaur demon and struck his ankles, causing him to tremble and fall. Nero quickly revved up Red Queen into MAX-Act and battered the stunned demon with countless slashes before he could recover.

Berial roared and let loose another burst of flames, sending Nero back. The teen narrowed his eyes and shot a couple of bullets at the burning demon. However, the flames that coated him rendered the bullets ineffective, melting as soon as it made contact.

Berial marched forward, looking arrogant as he snorted. **"Fighting me with fire? A pathetic endeavor."**

Once more, he let out a demonic roar as the flames began to spread, turning the buildings around him to cinders. Nero ignored this, and instead tried again. This time, his Devil Bringer arm glowed brightly. He tightly gripped Blue Rose with both hands then pulled the trigger. The bullets that shot out were coated in blue energy, crackling with power.

Berial cried out in pain as the bullets pierced through his defenses, making him take a few steps back. He looked, completely shocked that he had been hit.

**"W-What in the-? How is this possible?!"**

Before he could react, Nero projected his phantom arm and grabbed him by the head. The white-haired teen slammed him into the ground, his flames being extinguished. Then, with great strength, he threw him into the air and sent him flying with a single punch, crashing through the remains of the buildings.

Berial grunted in pain, forcing himself to stand. He felt so much fury inside of him...yet at the same time, he felt fear. **"****You're arm… You are not human! ****You...are just like he was!" **

This grabbed Nero's attention. "And who's 'he?'"

The King of Fire Hell paid him no heed, focused on retreating. **"I must restore my powers..."** And in a burst of flames, he went back into the hell gate, as what remained of the place became nothing but ash.

Nero sighed in frustration, muttering about how Berial got away. He tightly secured onto his back and went off to proceed to Lamia Peak. Unbeknownst to him, a certain red-clad, white-haired man was watching the entire spectacle from a cliff. He could have jumped in and help, but he instead preferred to stay back and watch.

Dante jumped down and approached the Hell Gate. He gazed at the glowing orb hovering silently besides it. The Son of Sparda called it to him. The orb disappeared in a flash and a backpack-like item in the shape of a skull materialized on Dante's back. He looked at the Devil Arm, a smirk finding its way on his lips as an idea came to mind.

* * *

**Lamia Peak**

Nero trudged through the snowy mountain, not at all bothered by the snow and cold. From what Credo had told him, the way to Fortuna Castle was mostly sunny, teeming with spring life and was the perfect spot for a walk. Yet, for some reason, a thick blanket of snow and a seemingly unending blizzard now plagued the area.

He blinked, taking notice that there was a large gap in between the cliff and the castle. He looked down and saw debris of the bridge, having probably been broken by the snowstorm. Nero grunted and jumped down the cliff and slid down the cliff side. He kicked himself off and dropped down on to the main bridge connected to the path that would take him to Fortuna Castle.

The teen blinked in confusion, seeing two lizard-like creatures covered in mechanical armor standing before him. The demons hissed and pounced, prompting Nero to draw Red Queen and swatted away them both away. However, the Frosts managed to redirect themselves and ended back where they were. The ice demons gathered energy in its hands and shot out multiple ice crystals at the young teen.

Nero's eyes widened and went on to the deflect the oncoming projectiles. He revved up Red Queen and used its Exceed system to melt whatever he could. Unfortunately, two stray shards managed to get him, freezing up his entire body. The ice lizards hissed in amusement and jumped on the frozen teen, swinging their claws in an arc.

Nero grunted in pain as he slid back, planting Red Queen before he could fall. He roared and grabbed the Frost, before it could touch him. The Knight threw it into its fellow demon, the ice surrounding them shattering. Quickly, he ran up to them and impaled them as his blade remained ablaze. The Frosts roared in agonizing pain, as they both melted away under Red Queen's fire.

However, as the two had been disposed of, more demons dropped in. Nero sighed and hefted the large blade. His eyes narrowed into a glare, making a come hither motion. However, before any of them could make a move, they were quickly mowed down by numerous blade, raining down from the sky. A familiar figure then dropped in and quickly dispatched the demons that survived. Nero tilted his head, before drawing Blue Rose and taking a shot, killing the Frost that was about to attack her from behind.

"Gloria? The hell are you doing here?"

The Order Executive smiled and strutted up to the fourteen year old, who was now trying to avert his gaze. "It looked like you could have used some help. I just so happen to pass by when I spotted you fighting these Frosts."

Nero didn't really see anything wrong with that and holstered back his gun. He gazed at the fallen Frosts, curiosity coloring his face. "So, where exactly are these demons coming from? There's no way they've been here all along."

Gloria hummed in agreement, putting her weapons into stand-by mode. "It's strange. No matter the number you kill, more will come."

She then knelt down, placing away her blades behind her thigh, which also gave Nero quite the view of her cleavage. But, hormonal he may be, he still had the decency to look the other away. Gloria chuckled in amusement, standing up. Nero cleared his throat, wanting to move on.

"Then I guess I'll leave that chore to you. I have some personal slaying to take care of."

"Don't worry. I'll join with the others. We'll take care of them."

The two went their separate ways. Nero stopped for a moment, feeling his arm glow once again. He stared at the Devil Bringer before looking around in confusion, not seeing any sort of demon near the vicinity.

"Man, it is cold in here. Could kill for a slice of pizza right about now."

Nero swiveled around and aimed Blue Rose at Dante, who was sitting cross-legged on the bridge, fake shivering. The white-haired teen grunted and fired off a shot. The Devil Hunter jumped up, caught off-guard by the sudden act of aggression. Before he could even make any sort of remarks, Nero continued on shooting at him.

This confused Dante to no end as he danced around the bullets with ease. "_What the hell is going on? It's like he's an entirely different person." _He landed on top of a pillar, then started jumping on to the others to resume dodging the attacks. A thought then came to mind, and it struck him like a splash of cold water. _"Oh crap! Don't tell me that blow to the head gave him amnesia?!"_

Dante slid across the floor, trying to explain himself. "Kid, wait!"

However, Nero paid him no heed as he dashed forward in a rushing sweep with Red Queen. Dante pulled out Rebellion and locked the attack in a stalemate. Seeing the opportunity, he quickly talked.

"Kid, listen to me. I'm not your enemy, I'm your uncle! And you're not Nero, you're Jaune! You're mother's name is Jeanne Arc, and you have five sisters! Remember it, kid!"

Nero ignored his pleas and pushed him back, quickly revving up his sword then launched Dante into the air, following after him. He simply projected his phantom arm and slammed him into the arc, causing it to crumble down on him. Dante burst out of the rubble, dusting himself off.

"Come on, stop joking around kid. Get serious. I need to talk to you about something. There's no one here. It's just you and me."

Nero craned his head, not wavering from his aim. A malicious grin spread across his lips, making Dante take a step back in surprise.

"**Is that so?"**

* * *

**Remember, if you have any questions, don't be hesitant to leave a review down below and I'll answer it ASAP.**


	10. Obtaining the Legacy

Dante felt a drip of sweat trickle down his chin as Nero stared him down menacingly with his eyes glowing red. The Legendary Devil Hunter had his hands poised over his guns, ready to draw it if ever necessary.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, but he was terrified. Not that his nephew was staring him down like a predator would to their prey, but the fact that he was the reason why the teen before him couldn't recognize him. That he had robbed him of his memories by complete accident.

And along with that came the consequences he would face. How would Jeanne react? If there was anything that stuck to him, it was that a mother's fury should not be trifled with, lest you are prepared to go to hell and never return. What about his nieces? What about Pyrrha?…What about Vergil?

By now, regret flooded his entire being, desperately wishing that he had chosen another way to have Jaune infiltrate the Order instead of just bashing him over the head. He was too complacent and look where it got him…

"Snrk."

Dante looked up, a bewildered expression replacing his look of regret. He couldn't exactly make out Nero's expression, his face being shadowed over by his bangs, but he could definitely see his shoulders shaking. A loud laugh escaped Nero's lips as he arched back, clutching his face, trying to breath. Dante lost every emotion on his face, except for disbelief as he stared at the giggling teen.

"I, I got you so badly! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! What's wrong, Uncle D? My acting skills fooled ya? You better thank Sol for that, because she's the one who taught me."

The Son of Sparda slumped against the pillar as his body sagged in complete relief. Nero, or rather, Jaune, stopped chortling and helped his uncle stand up, still grinning like an idiot. Dante, of course, was not amused.

"What the hell, kid? I actually thought I gave you amnesia!"

Jaune shrugged uncaringly, his grin still present. "Yeah, well, that's what you get for pushing me to mom when I was just asking about sex!"

One could hear glass shatter in Dante's mind as he connected the dots. "That's what this is about?! Because of the birds and the bees talk?"

"You wouldn't be saying that if you'd heard and seen what I had to go through… She used charts, diagrams and pictures with complimentary audio! I couldn't even sleep for a week when it was over… Hell, I couldn't look at Pyrrha for a while without being reminded of that!"

Dante sighed, raising up his arms in faux surrender. "Alright, alright. Okay, I'm sorry. But can you even blame me? It's awkward to talk about that kind of stuff with a kid!"

"Then who the hell taught or gave Ren the talk?" Jaune quickly cut him off as he was about to respond. "Wait, actually, don't answer that question. Just remember that you still owe me for that blow to the head." He made himself comfortable on the ledge, nodding at his uncle to go on. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Dante hummed uncertainly, his eyes looking hesitant. Jaune quirked an eyebrow, wondering what his uncle was thinking about. As he was about to open up, his uncle finally spoke up.

"Why 'Nero'?' Out of every alias you could have picked, you chose Nero… Is it because of-"

"Yes." he softly breathed out. Jaune drew out Red Queen, staring at it sadly as the memories of its creation played in his mind. "I wanted to further honor her… Not just by using the weapons she made, but through a name as well. Nera is the reason why I could even come here in the first place. I owe it all to my big sister. I use her name, to make it feel like she's right by me, like she always was."

For a moment, the two of them remained silent, letting the blizzard stir up. A few minutes after, Dante decided the time was right and discussed the other thing on his mind.

"The Order's plans. It involves something with the Hell Gates. Yes, gates. Plural. There's more than the one you encountered in Ferrum Hills. From mine and Lady's investigation, they're being powered up by Devil Arms. So, if you want to immobilize it, just take the Devil Arm off. The other two are within Mitis Forest, and at this very location, Fortuna Castle… Which just so happens to be where the Yamato is located."

Jaune scrambled up in shock. "You're kidding. She's right here?"

The Rebellion illuminated, speaking out to the teen. **"That's correct. My sister is trapped inside of that castle. Her presence has grown even more faint since the last time we had sensed her. Wherever she is, whatever power she has is being sustained, but it's not enough. We need to get to her ASAP before she fades."**

The two nodded in agreement, gazing up at Fortuna Castle. "It would be best if we stick together. Because, you were right. I guess there was no need to have you infiltrate the Order."

Jaune shrugged, not at all minding. "I'm okay with it. I actually enjoyed my stay here. But I guess it's about time we packed up and leave."

Both of them rushed into the entrance with a smile on their faces, excited to end things.

Dante and Jaune looked around the courtyard, the blizzard getting stronger by the second. It got so strong, the snow became too thick for them to see through. And if that wasn't bad enough, Dante vanished all of a sudden. The white-haired teen looked around, trying to sense out his uncle.

"Uncle D?" he called out. He rolled his eyes, frowning deeply. "Ha ha, very funny. Look, can you just stop, so we can wrap this u-"

Jaune cut himself off as he spotted the Hell Gate, which was opened up. And in front of it was two spirits that seemed to resembled young, nubile women. The two floated and danced around very sensually, touching each other every once in a while. And if he were to be honest, they sort of reminded him of two certain people that he knew of…which the thought made him embarrassed.

"Hope they don't find out about this…"

He mumbled under his breath, looking down on his demonic arm as it glowed, confirming his thoughts that there was a demon out in the open. He quickly grabbed Red Queen and swung it upward, striking something large and sending it sliding back. Jaune flicked down his sword, the mist around them dissipating, allowing him to get a better look at whatever it was. He saw a large, white, toad-like demon shaking its head, the spirits attached to its head like an angler fish's feelers.

"Huh, so that's what you really look like. Gotta say, not a big fan of those feelers."

The ice toad grunted, a bit impressed. **"You're smarter than you look, with a smart-ass mouth to match!" **it gurgled out, spitting out some sort of liquid as it spoke.

Jaune shrugged. "Hey, cut me some slack. I'm not big on amphibians. I'm more of a land animal type of guy."

The toad demon roared, blowing up a large gust of wind that forced Jaune to cover his face as some of the spit got on him, making him groan out and try to wipe it off.

"**Fool! You think I, Bael, care what you s-"**

"Yeah yeah, whatever." he rudely interrupted. "Let's finish this quick before I end up traumatized."

Being interrupted infuriated the ice demon, making him bellow out once again. **"I will crush you!"**

Jaune sighed in annoyance, planting Red Queen into the floor and cranked it up. Bael roared and released the multitudes of icicles on his back, sending it raining over Jaune. The Son of Vergil dashed to the side and released an arc of blazing energy that singed the icy toad. He bulged up and released a wave of ice, freezing the teen in place. He used his feelers to smack the still frozen teen around, before deciding to belly flop him.

Jaune broke free and rolled out of the way just before Bael landed on him. He pulled out Blue Rose and started rapidly shooting at him, causing the demon to wince. He swung down Red Queen, immediately reaching Exceed MAX-Act, and skated up to the toad, landing a series of devastating slashed across its body. He jumped back and fired off a Charged Shot, causing the demon to grunt in pain.

Bael jumped back and released a large cloud of gas, blinding Jaune. He wiped his eyes and saw his surroundings go dark, the distance of his sight becoming shortened as the last thing he saw of Bael was its creepy grin. Once more, the Rusalka appeared, trying to lure him into danger by walking up to him seductively.

Howeve, he merely ignored this, choosing to glare then grabbed it by the throat and choke-slammed it. He dashed back and revved up the Red Queen, before launching it skyward, burn marks beginning to appear on its body. He hit it twice in quick succession, before spinning in a deadly show of force, bringing them a bit higher.

The Lone Son grabbed it in the face and dive bombed down, bringing it along to slam it harshly onto the ground. The Rusalka became red as it fell down and laid helplessly on the ground. Before he could make another move, the other Rusalka pounced out of the darkness and caught him with its tendrils, wrapping tightly over his wrists. Jaune struggled against the restraints, surprising him on how strong its grip was.

The Rusalka laughed haughtily and froze him. Unfortunately for it, before it could do anything further, Jaune managed to break free and pulled it in for a nasty right hook that probably cracked its neck. Like what happened with the other Rusalka, it turned red. However, the spirits disappeared and Bael lunged forward.

Jaune saw him and managed to create a Glyph to jump on and dodge, causing the ice demon to crash into the gate. While he was disoriented, the white-haired teen quickly took the opportunity and laid off numerous attacks on the toad, all powered up with Exceed. It took a while for Bael to recover, until he finally jumped back into the darkness, summoning out his Rusalka feelers once again to distract the hybrid.

"_Those things are really damn annoying." _thought Jaune.

Quickly revving up Red Queen, he rushed at them and performed an EX Streak, sweeping and burning up the two. Focusing first on one, he spun around Red Queen at propeller-like speeds, launching the Rusalka up into the air, before shredding it up with a secondary spinning attack.

He dashed back, avoiding the tendrils of the other feeler. He channeled demonic energy into his blade and released a shockwave strike that pushed back the second Rusalka. Jaune lunged forward, and took another page from Dante, doing a Stinger attack on to the poor thing. This time, it knocked it out, turning red and laying helplessly on the floor.

Jaune grabbed it by its foot with his Devil Bringer and used it to pull Bael out of the shadows. This staggered the demon, allowing Jaune to move in and attack him with precise strikes. Once again, Bael had recovered and jumped out of the way of an Exceed slash, putting some distance between him and Jaune. The demon toad released another wave of ice, which was dodged courtesy of a Glyph.

Bael launched out the icicles on his back once again, forcing Jaune to quickly move out of the way. However, the ice creature used this to his advantage and shot out a cone of ice and cold, impaling Jaune and also freezing him up. Bael launched himself into the air and belly flopped on the poor teen, crushing him beneath the large toad.

Jaune roared and punched the demon off of him with a Buster attack. Bael sneered and breathed out his gas once again to shield himself back into the shadows. The teen rolled his eyes, unimpressed by the attack.

"You're seriously gonna try that again? It didn't work the first time, so what makes you think it'll work the second-"

The poor teen didn't get to finish as Bael emerged behind him and swallowed him up. The large demon chuckled triumphantly, assured of its victory. This would be short-lived, however, as the blade of Red Queen protruded out of its back, making him groan out in pain and horror. Jaune pulled it back and began to cut up the inside of his mouth before bursting out of his back, grievously wounding the demon.

In a last ditch effort, Bael tried to attack with his feelers. Jaune anticipated this and caught the Rusalka by the leg, then flipped hin on his back. He smirked and started flailing Bael around like a ragdoll, before smashing him on the ground, leaving the demon on its back.

"**You think...you've...beaten me?! Never! You piece...****o****f-"**

"That's exactly what I think." said Jaune, cutting him off.

"**My brother****s****…will come! They-"**

Jaune ignored Bael's last words and punched him right in between the eyes, sending the demon spinning around like a top, crashing against the walls. And as the finishing blow, Jaune jumped after him and sliced hi. in half, the remains freezing up and exploding into shards of ice. The Son of Vergil landed down, brushing off the goop on his clothes as he heard clapping.

"Nice work, kid."

Dante walked up to the Hell Gate, retrieving the Devil Arm that powered it up. Jaune mock glared at his uncle, only slightly annoyed that he didn't even bother jumping in. "Didn't even cut in, huh? What, you enjoyed the show?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. Wanted to know just how much you've improved, and you did."

The Devil Arm glowed, revealing its true form. A gray briefcase with many cracks detailed onto it with a silver circle at the very center of the cracks, encompassing a three-eyed skull with fangs. Dante smiled and lightly knocked on it appreciatively. Jaune looked at it, a bit amazed before it was wiped off as he remembered what Bael said before his death.

"Wait… Did he say brothers?"

Despite no longer having the Devil Arm to power it up, the Hell Gate had just enough juice to sustain itself as numerous Dagons emerged out of it. All of them were like Bael, except green and their feelers were red. Jaune groaned in annoyance at the fact that they have to fight again.

"Well this is great. Now we have to a deal with a whole herd of them?"

Dante cracked a grin, hefting up Pandora on his shoulders. "Would you look at that. It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet!"

"You and I have a different definitions of a buffet, Uncle Dante."

Dante placed down the briefcase and it glowed, changing its form into Jealousy - a six-barreled gatling gun. He fired it off, forcing the Dagons into a single line. He picked it up and turned it into Hatred - a triple-barrel rocket launcher. The Son of Sparda grinned and fired off three rockets, the explosion sending each toad demon straight into the air. Spinning around, he switched Pandora into its Grief form - a tri-blade shuriken. With precise accuracy, he threw it and it struck every Dagon before returning to him. And finally, for the coup de grace, he changed it into Argument - a vehicle-like form with numerous rockets around the seat. He pulled the down the lever, firing off every rocket and blowing the Dagons and the Hell Gate into smithereens.

With a satisfied sigh, he slammed placed down Pandora back into its briefcase form, when it suddenly clicked open as it displayed a bright light. He quickly closed it up, before anything could happen. Dante picked it up and placed it away as Jaune clapped appreciatively of the little gun show.

"Okay, I have to say, that was impressive. And a lot of fire power too."

As the Son of Sparda was about to say something, the ground beneath him gave in, causing him to fall underground. Jaune walked up to the newly created hole and called out to his uncle.

"You okay, Uncle D?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry about me. You go on ahead, I'll catch up with you later."

Despite not being seen, he gave a mock salute and jogged up to the entrance of the rest of the castle.

* * *

**Somewhere in the Order's Headquarters**

On a stone bed lay Sanctus's body, while Credo stood over it diligently, his head bowed down. Without any prompt, Sanctus's eyes shot open and glowed red, as his body spasmed with his veins becoming more visible. This attracted Credo's attention as the General looked at the Vicar in slight worry. It only took for a moment for him to finally settle down, his body returning to normal. Sanctus opened his eyes once more, and this time, they were normal.

"You have awakened." noted Credo.

Sanctus looked at his trusted subordinate and regarded him with a nod. As His Holiness recovered, Credo brought him up to speed on the current events.

"My men are currently in pursuit of Dante. It is only a matter of time before his location is revealed."

"He came to us... " he said, his voice a bit hoarse. "It was fortunate I was able to participate in the 'ascension ceremony'."

As the Vicar of Sparda spoke, a tall, hunched man walked into the room, writing something on a notebook. He had tanned skin and long hair with a ponytail. He wore an Order of the Sword uniform, but it was more fitting in the profession of a researcher, complete with a monocle over his left eye. He looked up from his notes and gazed upon Sanctus, amazed at his recovery.

"His Holiness...! You look magnificent!"

The man tried to approach him, however Credo placed himself between them, preventing the man from getting near Sanctus. He sneered at the General as he tried to move to the other side.

"You sent that inexperienced brat Nero to find Dante?"

Credo continually blocked the man, placing his arm over a stone pillar. "You question my command?"

The man looked outraged, as if it was obvious. "Yes! What shall befall me s-s-s-s-should he stumble upon my research facility?!"

Credo didn't look too concerned, not even bothering to look at the researcher. "Our priority is to capture Dante."

"Why you t-t-t..."

Before the man could finish whatever he wanted to say, Sanctus piped in, speaking softly by calling out his General's name.

Credo gazed at his leader, nodding in acknowledgement. "Yes, Your Holiness."

"Gather everyone." he requested. "I must ease their minds on this matter."

The General obeyed, leaving Sanctus alone with the researcher.

* * *

And the man's fear was realized. Jaune had indeed stumbled upon the research facility. The white-haired teen looked around in curiosity, seeing a few papers strewn about and some equipment. In the corner of the room were three full sets of the Order's armor. He stopped at the front of a desk with some tapes, next to a Walkman. He popped it open and inserted the tape in, pressing play, curious as to what it contained.

**"T-T-To think that I would be allowed to continue my research! Humans are like ants - stubborn and foolish. And that is precisely why they make the p-p-perfect candidates for me to experiment on! Although, the specimens I've received are far too... aged. I must acquire younger samples if I want to further improve!"**

And the tape ended there, automatically ejecting itself. Jaune placed in the second tape and listened carefully.

**"W-W-What a stroke of good luck! The others have chanced upon two children in the forest. Orphans. And quite young, the both of them. Yes. I can feel it. They will be the ones to help me make a breakthrough in my r-r-research!"**

Jaune felt himself get sick. He knew of the children the man was talking about. After all, he helped saved them.

"I'm almost afraid of what I'll hear in these next tapes. Damn. What did this bastard do to Ren and Nora?"

He contemplated for a moment, debating if he should listen to the rest. "Well, Uncle D probably has them on a wild goose chase. Guess I got some time to kill."

Jaune plucked out the second tape and replaced it with the third one.

**"Marvelous! Simply marvelous! I've started conducting my experiments on the boy, and he is far more receptive to demon DNA than I could have ever imagined! He's already gained most of the abilities of the demons I've injected him with. B-B-But it does not end there. As a scientist, I must explore all possibilities! I ripped off his limbs, to see how fast his regeneration would be. Imagine my shock when zippers materialized from his stumps and retrieved the f-f-fallen limbs! So, I did it again, and this time, I burned his arms and legs. And, they did regenerate. Fascinating. Truly fascinating. It won't be long until he unleashes his full potential. "**

Jaune clutched his mouth, trying not to puke from the image he had just conjured up. He shook his head, trying to erase the thoughts. He looked at the remaining tapes, doubt plaguing him if he should even listen to them. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. Jaune took out the third tape and put in the fourth one.

**"The little girl...is f-f-far more troublesome to work with than I could**** ha****ve imagined! Not in the sense of cooperation, oh no. She's gullible as a newborn i-i-infant. All I needed to give her was a lollipop and a pat on the h-h-head to allow me to inject her with every sort of DNA I had. Rather, my problem with her is that her body is not as receptive as the boy's. Nonetheless, it worked. She has become far stronger than I could**** ha****ve anticipated. She's bench pressed over f-f-five hundred pounds! A-A-And she's just eight years old! Imagine how much her strength would be when she reaches her prime! Then, there's her element of lightning. She'll become a blitz-type of a brute demon. Speed, and strength. The two of them combined for a vicious combo. I need to further improve on this!"**

Jaune cringed. Well, it WAS plausible. Even so, he couldn't help but feel pity for what the two had to go through.

They became parentless at such a young age, and now they were taken advantage of. Cruel and sick things done to their bodies, and possibly even their minds. He looked at the last tape and stared at it intensely. He sighed and put it in.

**"An ****unforeseen**** complication h-h-has arisen. They've become...aware to the cruelty of my research. They've started asking questions, so I was f-f-forced to manipulate their minds. Made them susceptible to my orders. Little by little I've b-b-broken their tiny little minds. But alas...they had perished. Such a p-p-p-p-pity. However, I was fortunate enough that I had been able to replicate their demon forms. Now, how to further improve on this?"**

Jaune shook his head in disbelief, still digesting what he had just heard. He turned his head and saw a large container. The teen walked up to pillar of light wherein lay an intricate katana, broken in to two. He looked at it with fascination and sadness. Finally, in front of him was his father's blade - the Yamato.

He gingerly reached out to it, only to be rudely interrupted by the three armored knights in the facility, pulling him back and pinned him against the wall with their swords. The young cambion gasped as he began to bleed. The researcher strode into the room, writing down some information, before looking up and staring right into Jaune's eyes.

"You had come. Just as I suspected." The man gave a mock bow, introducing himself. "I, am Agnus. Working in secrecy, very few are p-p-p-privy to my existence. But alas, you won't be able to take that little information with you."

The researcher was about to walk away until he saw his Devil Bringer. Agnus quickly went closer, very much fascinated with it the demonic arm, glowing in resonance with the Yamato.

"Such a magnificent sample! I've only began my research years ago. Could we isolate the demonic power and bind it, it can enable us to conquer the world!"

Despite his current state, Jaune still found time to snark. "Did you already forget? His Holiness is dead. You might as well give up now, cause your efforts are in vain."

Agnus smirked and wagged his fingers at him. "Ahh, but because of my research, His Holiness has been reborn. As an angel!" He gestured to the armored knights, looking at them with pride. "Look at what a small fraction of my research wielded! Such...beauty!"

Agnus then frowned deeply, remembering the difficulty in making them.

"You have no idea of the hardship to make just one armor come to life. I had to capture and control countless demons to harness their souls. Summoning them alone was almost an insurmountable task!"

Jaune's eyes lightly widened up in realization. "Summoning? So you're the one who made those Hell Gates!"

Agnus eagerly nodded. "Indeed! I merely created it as a reference in substitution for the real Gate. But after utilizing a powerful Devil's Arm, it proved sufficient..."

The white-haired teen glared at the scientist, trying to fight through the pain. "You sick bastard."

The scientist merely grunted as a blade demon flew into his hand. "You should rest." He plunged the blade deep into Nero, making him gasp out blood. "You'll need it, for you're my new subject for experimentation, and that arm. It might prove to be the key in restoring the Yamato."

Agnus smirked before grunting in confusion as he saw a locket laying on the floor. He picked it up and opened it, revealing the image inside. The researcher was a bit confused until he put two and two together, making him rumble in evil laughter.

"I see. To think that you've been lying this whole time. Well, I'm sure the Order won't mind the kidnapping of this girl for experimentation. I'm sure you'll enjoy the company of her screams!"

Jaune's eyes widened. Not in shock. Not in surprise. Not in horror. But in fury. That Agnus would dare threaten his friend. His eyes turned into a shade of blood red as it glowed along with his Devil Bringer.

Inside of the pillar, the Yamato began to react. The two pieces connected with each other and melded back into one. It flew into Jaune's hand and caused a power shock wave, destroying the armored knights and the blades pinning him down, sending Agnus out of his facility and forced him to transform into his insect-like demon form. He slowly raised himself, seeing Jaune stand there, radiating with power as he held the repaired Yamato.

**"How?! Not even I could succeed in restoring it!"**

Jaune's eyes bore into Agnus, making him shiver. He took a step forward as a vibrant aura began to erupt from him.

**"Scum. Only those who've descended from Sparda may wield this blade. You will never unlock its full power, and I won't allow you to lay a single hand on her!"**

Then for some reason, he began swinging the blade. Not wildly, but focused. With precision. Even Nero was confused. Dante never taught him how to wield a blade like Yamato.

_"It... It feels like someone's guiding me, teaching me how to properly wield it."_

Unbeknownst to him, an astral figure floated besides him, doing the exact same motion he was doing as if it was teaching him, his movement showing more experience. The projection had the near identical appearance of Dante, apart from having his hair slicked back.

Agnus witnessed this with confusion, not knowing how to react. **"What?!"**

The Yamato glowed as Jaune and the projection released a blade of energy, destroying a large chunk of the facility's wall, narrowly missing the researcher. Agnus shook in fear, before composing himself to retreat out of the newly formed hole.

The red glow in Jaune's eyes faded along with the energy that surrounded him and the astral figure. He fell to his knees, panting as he felt the adrenaline leave him.

"W-what was that?"

Jaune scrambled to retrieve his locker and was relieved that it was mostly undamaged. He stood up, looking at the Yamato as he placed back the gift she gave him. He twirled around the blade and gingerly placed it into its scabbard.

"I hope you'll help me just as well as you've helped my father."

As a response, the Yamato glowed for a moment and spoke in a respectful and feminine tone.

**"But of course, young master. I'll help you in any way I can. It is good to meet you."**

Jaune smiled as the sword disappeared into his arm. He placed back the locket over his neck and decided to head for Mitis Forest.

* * *

**Mitis Forest**

Jaune walked up to the cliff and smiled as the sight before him. The view that he had allowed him to see most of the forest, teeming with green and life. To him, it was beautiful.

"Breathtaking, ain't it?"

The teen swiveled around and pointed his gun at his uncle, who walked up to the edge to look at the forest below. He rolled his eyes and holstered away Blue Rose. Feeling a bit curious, he decided to ask his uncle how he got out.

"Pretty boring. It involved some noxious fumes, a clamped up room, and a chamber that tried to get me to play a board game. All in all, it took me about twenty minutes to get out."

An idea lit up in Dante's mind, as sort of a mini-revenge idea.

"Hey, let's wrap this up. Last one to the Hell Gate owes the winner lunch at any diner of their choosing!"

Before Jaune could even make any retort, Dante kicked himself off the edge and fell into the forest, making the hybrid shook his head and followed suit.

* * *

**Well, I suppose the Bael fight was lengthy enough, even though there was only one fight scene in this chapter. And, looks like I managed to actually fulfill my promise and managed to post this on Saturday! Consider this two chapters in one week a gift. Next update, it's back to our regular schedule.**

**Also, did I get you guys? As much as the thought of Dante actually giving Jaune amnesia was VERY hilarious, I wouldn't have been able to make a plausible way for him to have recovered his memories, so, :P**

**As always, if you have any questions, put them in the reviews and I'll answer it as best as I can.**


	11. A Traitor's Requiem

**Looks like I was wrong. The DMC4 parts will be reaching up to four chapters in total. Huh. Guess there were more than I expected. Now, unlike the last chapter, this scene contains two fight scenes, with the second one probably making you either excited or sad. **

**Now, for the guest review of Vante. While yes, that is a good fix to a would've been plot hole, but it'll dig up another one as to how Jaune could have remembered to name himself Nero. So, no, it won't be changing. **

**By the way, if any of you are interested, Foxsky Harem Emperor 2015 has started up a reaction fic to this. So, go check out their story if you want. **

**Also, there won't be any updates next week. Midterms have arrived and I need to get my ass to start studying. Sorry, but I don't want to fail. That's all I really need to cover. Remember, if you have any questions, just ask them down in the reviews.**

* * *

Agnus burst into the room, wherein Credo, Sanctus, Gloria and a couple other of knights were having a discussion. The researcher was undeniably livid that his entire work was practically made useless all in a day. And he just had the right person in mind to focus his anger on. He marched up to said man and shouted.

"Credo! You knew it all along, didn't you?!"

The General was not at all amused by the scientist's sudden appearance, nor for the tone of his voice. "How dare you raise your voice in the presence of His Holiness!"

Agnus merely ignored him and went to focus on the matter at hand. "That arrogant kid possesses d-d-d-d-demonic power!"

Credo, despite knowing Nero for only about eight months, felt as if the boy was a little brother and that he knew everything about him. So, with that on mind, he only had one thing to say to Agnus.

"Absurd."

"Absurd!?" he repeatedly angrily, the knight commander getting on his nerves and started going off in a furious ramble. "Don't play me a fool. Is he not your subordinate? He resurrected Yamato! A-a-a-and besides! What of this?!"

The entire room, apart from Gloria, froze in shock at what Agnus had pulled out. Two yellow arcs, one overlapping the other. Credo snatched it out of the man's hand, looking at the symbol in disbelief.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded.

Agnus sneered at the General smugly, adjusting his monocle. "From Nero. Where else do you think I got it? I found it while he was snooping around my research facility."

Gloria, very confused at what the commotion was all about, spoke up to get some clarifications. "I don't understand. What exactly is all the fuss about? Is there a meaning behind it that I'm not getting?"

"There is." confirmed Credo. "Many years ago, even before I was born, a woman had tried to assassinate His Holiness. She almost succeeded, had it not been for the miracle of our Savior, Sparda. The Order had tried to locate her for a long time, but the investigation bore no fruit. Our only lead, was this very symbol."

The large research then continued where he left off. "This is your fault. It's your responsibility! It-t-t-t-t-t-t-t…."

"Credo." spoke out Sanctus, having heard enough.

Agnus quickly froze up. In one word, he stopped talking and backed off, allowing Credo to walk up to the Vicar, nodding. "Yes, Your Holiness?"

Sanctus lightly strummed his fingers on the table, in deep thought. "With the facts presented to us, there is a possibility that young Nero has some sort of connection to my other would-be assassin. Could you go and apprehend him for questioning?" he asked in a soft tone.

Credo look conflicted. In the short amount of time he interacted with him, he had gotten to care for Nero as if he were his own. But unfortunately for him, his duty came first. "If that is your wish... Though who will then track Dante?"

Gloria smiled, raising her hand to volunteer. "I will find Dante."

Sanctus turned to his newest executive. "You can guarantee his capture then?"

The tanned beauty nodded. "Absolutely. When have I ever failed, Your Holiness?" She stood up and bowed, then turned to walk away.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Credo turned to the Vicar of Sparda, doubt all over his face "I do not mean to question, Your Holiness, but is she reliable?"

The elderly man sunk into hi chair, pressing his fingers together. "She once brought to us the sword 'Sparda' and hastened the completion of our Savior."

"But she remains almost a stranger to us all…" he pointed out.

Unbeknownst to them, Gloria was listening in on them, standing behind a pillar. Hearing enough, she quietly left the room with a smirk.

Sanctus looked unconcerned and responded. "Which will only concern us should a situation arise. As for her identity, I have already investigated…" Although, he still didn't look convinced. "Now Credo, find us Nero and Yamato and bring them back to me." he finished, patting him on the hand as reassurance.

Credo nodded, abiding the order of the Vicar "As you wish, Your Holiness."

* * *

**Mitis Forest**

Jaune had lost track of his uncle, and found himself in some sort of ruins, the plant life growing into the ruined buildings. From what he could see, there was even an old cathedral and a fountain but had been weathered down due to the influence of the Hell Gate.

The teen looked up as numerous Scarecrows fell down, surrounding him in a circle. Jaune wordlessly grabbed Red Queen and prepared to fight them, when a demon that looked like a plant with hair, pounced and attached itself to the burlap sack of a demon. The plant demon bloomed and released out two bladed limbs. More of its kind came, infesting all of the surrounding Scarecrow.

Jaune smirked and slammed down Red Queen, revving it up. The Chimeras charged and wildly swung around its blades, acting like spinning tops. The former blond jumped over and on top of them, giving him a boost to land on top of some rubble. The plant demons chirped in confusion, not knowing what to do and just kept on spinning around, hitting each other.

"Well, not are they only weak, but they're stupid too." Looking at Red Queen, a smile crossed his lips before looking back at the demons. "Guess I should put them out of their misery."

Jaune kicked himself off from where he was and went for a violent descending slash, similar to Helm Breaker, using the Exceed to stir up a flame and burn down the surrounding Chimeras. Much to his certain surprise, all of them died easily…too easily, actually. One good hit and they were all killed in an instant.

"Well, that's no fun." he said, very disappointed.

The Lone Son placed back Red Queen onto his back, his excited smirk now replaced with a frown. Shaking his head, he ventured even deeper into the forest, hoping to get to the gate first before his uncle did. He stopped in his tracks as numerous lizard-like demons sprung out from the ground. Jaune merely drew out his blade, preparing for another fight.

Some of the Assaults stood up and took aim at the teen, shooting out its claws. Jaune shifted into the Royal Guard stance and swiftly blocked the projectiles with precision. The others swiftly attacked and dashed forward, swinging its claws like an arc. Jaune jumped back and drew out Blue Rose, shooting at the demons, which didn't have his desired effect. The bullets bounced off their skin and they continued, managing to strike him.

Jaune blinked in surprise, and wasn't able to react as two Assaults burrowed themselves under the ground then emerged with a vicious claw strike, causing him to stumble back. The Son of Vergil focused and deflected another claw slash. He grabbed it by the tail with a Buster and started slamming it around. He spun around and threw the Assault at its comrades, knocking out at least two more. Jaune rolled to the side, as more claws were shot at him.

The Assaults jumped into the air and started spinning around and homed in on the white-haired teen. Jaune quickly performed MAX-Act and followed it up with a Streak attack, swinging and swiping away at the lizard demons. Most, if not all, were now either burnt, cut in half, or all of the above. The three he knocked out, stood on its feet, glaring at Sparda's descendant. The Assaults let out an ear-piercing screech, causing Jaune to stumble around as he felt his ears bled and be stunned by the large screams. He tried to block it out, but it was all for naught.

Using the opportunity presented, the Assaults ganged up on him and struck him from all sides. This began to irritate the blond, who couldn't even counterattack since his weapons were separated from him. The three demons were too fast for him. How could he-?

"**_I'm right here, young master. Call upon me when you so desire, and I shall help you."_**

That's right. How could he have forgotten his father's weapon? In a burst of energy, he summoned out the Yamato and pushed back the Assaults, which also stunned them. A hazy blue aura coated Jaune, pulsating intensely and his eyes glowing a burning red once again.

Jaune gasped, surprised at the intensity and how intoxicating the feeling was. A large smile crossed his lips, clearly enjoying the moment.

"**This…is power!" **he declared in a deep and echoing tone.

The Yamato hummed, communicating with the son of her master.

"**_Let the knowledge flow, young master. Do not hesitate to embrace it. Do not feel lost. I will guide you through every move."_**

Jaune gazed at the katana and gave her a smile. He turned to the still stunned demons and his smile turned wicked. He tossed Yamato to his left hand and stared at his right arm, feeling a sensation that he should be doing. He ran his hand through hair and swept it back, giving him a slightly changed appearance, making him look more menacing.

The Son of Vergil flicked her out of her saya and slipped into a stance and stared at the Assaults with an excited smirk.

**"Now, I'm feeling a little motivated!"**

Jaune dashed forward and whacked one of the Assaults with the still sheathed Yamato, before drawing her and striking it in an upper slash, swiftly sheathing her back. Once the sword clicked into its place, the lizard demon found itself sliced in half.

The Assaults have finally recovered and went for another spin dash attack. The former blond grunted and dashed back, slipping into an Iaido stance. He moved to draw the blade, but yet it seemed like he didn't. The Assaults shrieked in pain as the two found themselves repeatedly skewered by an vortex-like attack, which had appeared out of nowhere. A few moments later, and the two were dead.

Jaune stared at his father's blade, in complete awe of her power. He smiled as he felt the rush fade away, with the Yamato going back into his Devil Bringer. He curled around his fingers and patted it gratefully.

"Thanks."

He retrieved his fallen weapons and ventured further until he finally stumbled upon the Hell Gate...except it was already being demolished by his uncle, equipped with new gauntlets, greaves and a face mask with spiral designs of sorts. Jaune silently watched as Dante destroyed the remains of the gate with moves that would've made Bruce Lee proud. The teen was about to clap ...until he remembered the stipulation his uncle had put up.

The Devil Hunter walked up to his nephew with a smirk, willing away the Devil Arm. "Hey, kid. You're late. Looks like you owe me a treat."

Jaune rolled his eyes, waving it off. "Yeah yeah, whatever. But don't think this voids the-"

"Don't worry. I haven't forgotten. What say you and I actually end things and head for the Order's Headquarters?"

Jaune lost his sass and nodded, now looking a bit excited. "Right."

* * *

**Entrance to ****the Order's Headquarters **

As the two cambions walked up to the entrance, they stopped in their tracks as they saw Credo approach, shooting at them a look that would make a normal man keel over at the sheer intimidation. His gaze fell on Jaune. More importantly, his arm. The General sighed and a frown crossed his lips.

"So Agnus was right. You do possess the power of a demon."

Jaune closed his eyes, refusing to look at the man, and instead focused on his uncle. "Go ahead, Dante. I'll catch up."

The Legendary Devil Hunter gave him a two-finger salute and rushed off to fight the Order's forces, leaving the two of them alone. Credo and Jaune circled each other, a glare on each of their faces.

"So was everything but a lie, Nero? An act so that we would drop our guard and allow you to steal the Yamato?"

"Not steal, take back. The Yamato belonged to Sparda, and was passed down to his son - my father. By right, it's mine. I don't know what the Order's planning with my father's sword, but whatever it is, we're putting a stop to it."

"Then you are a threat to our cause. As Captain of the Holy Knights, you are under arrest!"

The two drew their respective swords and ran at each other, trading blows. Sparks all across the platform as their strikes kept canceling each other, their blades grinding. Jaune spotted an opening and executed a palm thrust, striking his friend in the chest. Credo staggered back, holding it as he lightly panted.

"To think that you would be this skilled at that age. It's a testament of your abilities."

Jaune cracked a smirk, resting his blade on his shoulders. "I was holding back at our last match, Credo. This time, I'm going all in."

The General smirked back, confusing Jaune as a hazy aura of white and gold began to erupt from his body. "I share the same sentiments, Nero. Now, it's time that I display the power that the Order has bestowed upon me!"

With a load roar, the aura enveloped Credo, his body shifting into a much larger form. It was sort of bird-like, colored mostly white as if to mimic the appearance of the angels of myth. He only had one wing on his right side and wielded a large sword and shield. Jaune took a step back in disbelief, shocked that Credo had put himself through such a barbaric process.

"You too, Credo? Even you went through the Ascension Ceremony?"

The now demonic Credo stared down the teen, unfurling his lone wing as he ascended into the air. **"I have been chosen to take the next step in evolution, to become something far more than just human. I am an angel!" **

"You're wrong, Credo." started Jaune. His shock disappeared, now replaced with teeming anger. "I've seen what an angel looks like, and you're not even close. All you've become is a demon. A demon that needs to be put down!"

**"****Then we are at an impasse. I will**** repeat**** what I said earlier**** \- as Captain of the Holy Knights, you are under arrest. It is the wish of His Holiness!"**

Jaune dashed to the side, narrowly dodging Credo's spear thrust. Jaune was amazed at the man's sudden boost of speed. Before he could further react, Credo had already moved in and struck four times, the last slash launching him into the air. The Angelo General followed after and bashed down the teen with his shield, before impaling him with his sword, then pulled back and kicked him away.

Jaune coughed up some blood, groaning a little. He internally admitted, he was a little hesitant to fight against Credo. Despite their respective allegiances, he was still a friend. But he also had no other choice. He needed to fight back, or be defeated and captured.

As Credo charged in for another attack, the Son of Vergil called upon Yamato once again, the sheer energy that radiated managing to stun the Order's Captain. Jaune roared and ran up to the noble demon, with speed that surprised even him. He drew Yamato out of her sheath and quickly slashed at Credo, sending him up into the air. He jumped and swiftly delivered devastating attacks at the airborne General, following it up with a spinning slash, both rising and descending, crashing him back onto the platform.

The teen landed down and dashed back, slipping into an Iaido stance. He sighed deeply, focusing as he unsheathed then sheathed her at blinding speed. Credo noticed something odd and flew up, narrowly dodging the Judgement Cut attack. Jaune narrowed his eyes and proceeded to spam the attack, over and over.

Because Yamato told him that that was what his father always did whenever he and Dante fought.

Credo zoomed all over the place, doing his absolute best to avoid the deadly attack. Eventually, he spotted an opening and dove in. The Captain of the Holy Knights delivered four more vicious strikes, slamming Jaune into the ground. He dashed back and summoned floating, golden swords by his side. He flew into the air and sent them at the exposed teen in various formations.

Jaune saw the oncoming attack and channeled his uncle's technique.

"**Royal Guard!"**

He slipped into the ultimate defensive stance and blocked every projectile that Credo threw his way. Unbeknownst to him, Credo teleported right behind him, on the edge of the platform. He brandished his lance and threw it at Jaune like a javelin. The Son of Vergil took notice it of a second too late and was stabbed in the gut.

Credo, now unarmed, swooped in a ramming charge with his shield up. Jaune pulled out the spear and used it against its wielder, swinging it upwards to stagger him, then sent it back to sender, impaling him just like he did to him earlier. The cambion drew out Red Queen and revved up its Exceed to Max. He dashed up to the stunned Credo and sent out several sweeping slashes, pushing back the mighty General.

"**Neroooooo! Tell me, was it everything really just a ruse?! An act to lower our guard?!"**

Jaune grunted as he blocked an overhead strike, before performing a Buster attack on Credo's shield, slowly withering it down.

"I enjoyed my time here, Credo! Hanging out with you and Kyrie was a great experience!" He switched blades and held Yamato, sending out swift slashes at the angelic demon. "It reminded me of home! I wish that we're on the same side. You're a noble person, Credo, and I respect you deeply for that!"

He roared and jumped back, shooting out a Charged Shot. Credo deflected it with his shield and summoned out more swords, this time, surrounding Jaune. The projectiles moved in to pierce, and he swiftly swung around Red Queen, throwing them off.

"_Man. I really wish I have something like that. It seems so useful."_

"**_Ask, and you shall receive, young master."_**

Jaune grunted as more knowledge of his father's techniques surged into his mind. Credo didn't know what was happening, but he capitalized on the situation and threw out another four-hit combo that sent him into the air once again. Credo flew up and delivered a spiraling, drill-like attack that skewered that white-haired cambion. He tossed him up even further and sent out arcs of energy, striking him down.

Jaune forced himself up, as Credo lowered down. The Lone Son glared at his friend and channeled more of the Yamato's power. He tossed up his hand and a surge of energy exploded out of him, staggering Credo. When the energy subsided, a translucent shadow of a demon is now seen floating behind the young teen. The demon held its own copy of the Yamato, with a sheath attached to its left arm.

Credo seemed taken aback. The demon resembled that of the one that Agnus took inspiration for the Angelos. The so-called 'Black Angel'. He gasped in surprise as Jaune moved faster than he did earlier, making it look like he was blinking around. The teen reappeared right in front of him and sent out a rising slash, the demon copying his movement. Credo cried out in pain as Jaune dashed back drew out Blue Rose, firing off multiple shots, all accompanied by spectral swords that resembled simple long swords.

The Captain of the Holy Knights brought up his shield and tried to block them, however, Jaune Bustered it, forcing him to take the full brunt of the attack. The teen roared and Bustered Credo once again, his shield finally down. He quickly ran up to the kneeling knight and grabbed him through the demon. He viciously punched him four times and sent him flying with an uppercut. However, he wasn't done yet. Jaune jumped up and stabbed him with a fully revved up Red Queen, his demon doing the same but with Yamato. They harshly ripped out the sword and sent him rolling.

"**Come on, Credo. Give up. I don't want to have to kill you. I won't do to that to Kyrie."**

Credo recovered, looking at Jaune in offense. **"Kill me? It's not over yet!" **The man roared loudly, being covered the white and golden aura once again, but more intense. He charged forward with a powerful Stinger-like stab. And for even more bad luck, the demon faded, leaving Jaune a bit more defenseless. He pulled back and delivered numerous horizontal slashes in a row, leaving Jaune no room to evade.

He followed it up with another four-hit strike, however, this was much more vicious than the earlier ones. The Angelo General grabbed him by the neck and flew high into the air. He dived bomb down and crashed Jaune onto the platform, nearly cracking it. Credo hovered back, allowing Jaune to push himself up. However, as he did so, numerous golden Summoned Swords, impaled him at all sides, forcing him to kneel.

"**I'm sorry it had to be this way, Nero."**

Jaune looked up, his face bloodied, yet he still smiled. "I agree."

Much to Credo's shock, Jaune's wounds healed up and he roared, using his Devil Bringer to Snatch the shocked Credo to him. Calling forth Yamato once again, he wielder her in his right hand while he held Red Queen on his left. He wielded them efficiently, striking Credo with both blades, then sparked them together, blinding him. Jaune smirked and moved at breakneck speed, swinging the two swords with wild abandon, making them look like mere blurs as he basically shredded Credo. He then finished it off with a spinning overhead slash, pushing back the demon knight.

Credo panted heavily, starting to get exhausted by their fight as Jaune sheathed back Yamato and secured Red Queen on his back. The Angelo General shook his head and decided to press forward, very unwilling to give up. Bringing forth his shield, he charged forward for another ramming attack. Jaune stopped him in his tracks with his Devil Bringer, not even flinching. For a moment, it glowed, before he tossed him aside.

Jaune glanced at his arm in curiosity, wondering why it was glowing before turning to the fallen knight.

"No!" declared Credo, as his demon form faded, leaving him human once again. But even then, he didn't want to give up. "Not yet! I'm not finished!"

He stood up and charged at the blond with his regular Durandal. Jaune drew out Red Queen and the two clashed blades once more. Each strike they delivered, it would end up being canceled out by the other. Eventually, the two locked blades, glaring at each other heatedly. Credo pulled back and went for an overhead strike. Jaune saw the opportunity presented and deflected the attack, leaving Credo wide open. Channeling his demonic energy, he roared and delivered a palm thrust to the General's chest, finally sending him down for the count.

Credo winced in pain, struggling to stand up. "Is this... the full force of your power?"

Jaune remained silent and walked up to him. In an outsider's perspective, it would look like he was getting ready to deliver the finishing blow. But in reality, he only wanted to knock him out. A scream attracted both of their attention. Jaune turned around in shock to see Kyrie standing behind him.

She gazed at him in fear, before glancing at his arm. Jaune quickly hid it away, shame filling him. He never had to hide his arm from his friends. His family didn't judge because they were the same. Ren and Nora didn't care and accepted it. And Pyrrha? She actually liked it. Not only because it saved her, but because it was cool. It didn't matter, because it was only a part of him. It didn't change the fact that he was still her friend.

So, it really hurt him to see someone scared of his arm. He tried to move forward and explain himself, but he only succeeded in scaring her even more when she saw Credo, wounded and trying to stand.

"Kyrie... T-this isn't what it looks like..."

"Why...? Why did you do this?" she asked, her tone fully in disbelief and slight heartbreak.

Jaune continued to walk up to her, when Agnus appeared out of nowhere, standing besides the young redhead with a smirk.

"It was our intention to protect you from the truth. Nero is a demon."

"Agnus! You son of a-"

The Order's researcher pulled out his blade, hovering it over her throat, alarming both Jaune and Credo as Kyrie's eyes widened in fear. Agnus looked absolutely smug that he had them in the palm of his hands.

"Not to worry. I have no intentions of harming her... yet."

Jaune glared at the man, clenching his hand tightly. "She has nothing to do with this... Let her go!"

"Agnus!" called out Credo, having managed to stand up and limp towards them. "How dare you use my sister! This is my fight and I will finish it! Let her go!"

The monocle-wearing man looked at the knight with contempt, not moving away his blade. "His Holiness predicted your defeat and so ordered that your sister be utilized."

Both Credo and Jaune were taken aback, shocked that the vicar would willingly pull in an innocent bystander. As Credo was about to speak, a bright light erupted from Agnus, sweeping Credo off his feet while it pushed Jaune a good distance away from him, using his arm to block the light.

When it subsided, Agnus had transformed into his bug-like demon form, and was now in the air. He had Kyrie in-hand, who had been knocked unconscious

**"If you want her, then come and get her, for I cannot guarantee her safety."**

Cackling like a madman, Agnus buggered off, leaving a frustrated Jaune and a shocked Credo.

"His Holiness... He used Kyrie...?"

Jaune ran up to his friend and offered his arm to help him stand up. Credo accepted with no hesitation and clasped the arm, using it to pull himself up. The teen looked at the sky, before turning back to his the knight.

"Where's he gonna take her? Back to headquarters?"

"I would assume so. Nero, we must set aside this battle and confront His Holiness. Together."

Jaune nodded in agreement. No use in continuing the conflict if they don't even know which side they're on. Credo transformed into his demon form once again and took off. The Son of Vergil Snatched onto his leg, hanging off as they chased after Agnus.

* * *

In a moments time, the two had reached the Order's headquarters and went straight for the Advent Chamber. There, they saw Sanctus standing in top of a giant statue of Sparda. The Vicar took notice of their arrival and looked down on them with a smile.

**"So you've finally come, Nero. And I see you brought Credo along as well." **He gestured his hands to the statue, his smile growing wider. **"Is it not beautiful?"**

Jaune frowned, responding by pointing Blue Rose at him. "Think we've got a difference of opinion on that one."

Credo stepped forward, calling out to the old man. "Your Holiness! I have faithfully served you and the dream of the utopia you spoke of, the Savior you preached of... But now you used my sister, who has nothing to do with this." His eyes hardened into a fierce glare, drawing out his trusty Durandal. "And that is beyond forgiveness!"

**"Love...? For a sibling?****"** uttered Sanctus, as if it was something foreign and unfounded. **"****How utterly foolish. Do you not understand, Credo, my most faithful follower? All that is ever truly needed is absolute power!"**

Jaune frowned deeply. He turned to the knight, asking him of his opinion. "Well, Credo. What's your take on this?"

"...I resign from my position as General and hereby betray the Order of the Sword!" he declared, transforming into his Angelo form.

The teen smirked, excited to fight by his friend's side. Sanctus fumed, irritated that he had lost a pawn. Nonetheless, he couldn't let them see his anger, lest they try to provoke him even further.

**"I'm afraid the both of you are already too late. Although still incomplete, this is your chance to catch a glimpse of the true power of our Savior!"**

The two knights merely glared at the power-hungry man. Credo brandished his sword-lance while Jaune drew out Red Queen and revved it up. Sanctus jumped off the statue and encased himself in a a blue barrier, surrounded by two demonic orbs, and hovered in mid-air.

"**You fools! How dare you defy the Savior?"**

The megalomaniac roared and rained down lightning upon them. Credo flew above and blocked the attack with his shield. Jaune quickly Snatched himself up onto one of the orbs and began chipping away at the defensive sphere. Credo quickly joined in, the two of them attacking at both sides and the orb fell.

Jaune grabbed Sanctus by the throat and punched him in the gut, causing him to plummet down onto the ground. The Angelo Knight then descended and launched a flurry of furious strikes at his former superior, still angered by his decision to use his sister. Credo grunted and smacked him across the chamber, sending him to Jaune's path.

The Son of Vergil Bustered the old man up to him then threw him harshly back on the ground. He growled and started throwing a barrage of brutal punches, Credo joining in as he attacked Sanctus from behind, leaving gashes on his back. The former General held up the man by his hair, allowing Jaune to prep up his attack.

"Pray for help to your Savior, because you're gonna need it!"

The teen roared and finished it off with a powerful uppercut, sending him right back into the air. Sanctus recovered and summoned out his orbs and blue shield once again.

"**You both will repent!"**

Jaune and Credo jumped back, easily dodging the waves of thunder. The former latched on to the latter as he flew around, allowing him to shoot at Sanctus while Credo would evade his attacks. The noble demon summoned out his summoned swords and fired them at all directions, piercing through his shield once again. Credo then tossed Jaune at Sanctus. The teen smirked and impaled the vicar with Red Queen as soon as they collided, bringing him back down.

"Let's tan you up a bit!"

Jaune cranked up the handle, spurting out the flames, burning Sanctus from the inside. He grunted and repeatedly stomped and kicked the vicar's vulnerable visage with reckless abandon. Once he was satisfied, he pulled out his blade and launched him into the air for Credo to have his turn.

Credo roared furiously as he dashed swiftly, striking Sanctus in every direction. He was so fast, it was almost like he had conjured up duplicates of himself and moved in sync to attack the power hungry man. Credo then ended his attack by lunging his spear-lance into Sanctus's body, splitting him in half.

The noble knight fluttered down by Jaune's side, staring at the severed corpse, with the latter thinking it was over. But of course, it wasn't that easy. Sanctus' two halves erupted in an explosion of light, blinding the two. The corrupted vicar took this to his advantage and quickly reformed himself, floating back up into the air.

"**Resistance is futile! I sentence you both to death!"**

He gathered up a large beam of energy and lightning into the palm of his hands and unleashed on the two traitor to his Order. Jaune and Credo cried out in pain, feeling their body start to lock up because of the dual attack. Sanctus cackled, conjuring up large fireballs in the sky.

"**Now burn!"**

The megalomaniac threw them at the stunned duo, however the spectral projection from the lab reappeared and extinguished the balls of flame with ease by swinging around its copy of the Yamato, the force behind each strike exuding a force of air. Sanctus looked at the figure in horror, causing him to float a good distance away.

"**Impossible! You're supposed to be dead!"**

At this point, Jaune and Credo had recovered, albeit they were panting. The former looked up in surprise to see himself staring at a figure eerily similar to that of his uncle.

"Father…?" he uttered out loud.

The projection of Vergil remained silent and looked up at Sanctus. The priest almost shrieked in fear at the cold glare he was receiving. The phantom grunted and vanished, the duo finally having managed to stand on their feet. Jaune glanced at this arm, looking at it gratefully.

"_Thank you… Father." _Jaune cracked his knuckles, calling out Yamato and activating his pseudo-Devil Trigger while Credo turned into his Angelo form once again. **"Round two!" **

Sanctus grew furious and charged right in, head first, covered in a bright aura. Jaune dashed forward and relentlessly slashed through his defenses, leaving behind a trail that continuously struck the defenseless Sanctus. Credo charged in and impaled Sanctus on his blade once more, dragging him across the floor, leaving behind a large trail of blood. He skidded to a stop and threw him into the air.

Jaune ran up to his location and unleashed a slash vortex around Sanctus, repeatedly skewering him. The old man panted and glared furiously at the duo. He roared and charged head first once again. The white-haired teen smirked and grabbed him with his Spectral arm. Spinning around, he slammed him into the chest of the statue of Sparda, hoping to have embedded him in it.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Sanctus gave them a troll-like grin as he allowed himself to be absorb into the Savior, causing Jaune and Credo's eyes to widen, the former feeling absolutely stupid.

"**Oh shit."**

The gem on the Savior's forehead lit up brightly. The chamber began to tremble as the giant statue started to move. It raised up its arm and collapsed the surrounding pillars, its eyes narrowly opened and staring menacingly at the duo.

"**Behold the power of the Savior! Do it, now!"**

Moving with unnatural speed, the Savior punched the two of them, pummeling them into the wall, embedding them into it. Sanctus cackled from inside of the statue, summoning out some of the Order's angel-like demons - the Bianco Angelos and Alto Angelo.

Credo pushed himself off and fended off the group of demons, allowing Jaune to handle Sanctus. The young cambrion jumped out of the Jaune-shaped imprint on the wall and glared at Sanctus. The Savior raised its hand for another punch, but this time, Jaune was prepared. He used Buster and smacked away the hand, causing Sanctus to fall out, unprotected and stunned.

Jaune slowly walked up to the defenseless man, Yamato brimming with energy. Slipping into a stance, Jaune focused and unleashed his rage.

"**Tide's turning… Showdown!"**

He roared and grabbed Red Queen, using them both to deliver an omnipotent barrages of slashes, heavily damaging Sanctus. As the coup de grace, he stabbed both blades into his body, and flung him into the air, allowing Credo to ram his shield into his chest, and barged him back onto the Savior.

Sanctus panted heavily, growing even more livid than he already was. Credo sped off, ready to finally deliver the killing blow. However, something he did not expect occurred. His little sister emerged from out of the jewel, causing the demonic knight to halt in his tracks.

"**Kyrie?" **he called out uncertainly.

The young redhead stirred, opening her eyes to see her older brother. "Credo?"

Before anymore could be said, a large sword emerged from the former General's chest, splattering Kyrie's face with blood. Jaune looked up in horror, as he saw Sanctus floating behind Credo, stabbing him from behind and injuring him grievously.

"CREDO!" he cried out, tears streaming down as he reached out to the man he could call a brother.

Kyrie could only gaped freeze up in horror as her brother's Angelo form faded, allowing her to see him die as a human, his face contorting in pure agony. Sanctus smirked, patting Credo's shoulder and commended him.

"**Although you have betrayed the Order, I must salute a man such as yourself. It's such a shame for you to turn back on your faith. If only you weren't held back by such a petty emotions, then you wouldn't have to die."**

As Sanctus was about to pull out, Credo grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him closer, ignoring the pain and focusing his anger on the man. "Don't think that you have won… Nero, and Dante will stop you. I am certain of it. They will be the ones to ruin your schemes and send you to hell!"

Sanctus frowned at his former subordinate's words, before smirking maniacally. **"Then let us meet there, ****_my faithful servant!" _**

He wretched the sword out of Credo and pushed him down, watching gleefully as Jaune rushed to catch the knight's body.

Jaune caught Credo's body, gently placing him down. His eyes fell on the large, gaping wound and attempted to close it up. However, Credo pushed it away, shaking his head slowly.

"Dammit, Credo! You're not going to die here! You're gonna pull through this, I swear it!"

"No… Don't lie to yourself, Nero. We…both know that I won't live for much longer." The noble knight lurched forward, coughing up some blood. Although pained, he smiled at the crying teen. "It was fun…I admit. Nero…only you, and Dante can defeat the Savior now… It may have been short-lived, but as your former superior, may I have one last request?"

"Name it, Credo, and I'll honor it to my dying breath." he responded, trying so hard not to choke on his tears.

"Please…protect Kyrie…in my stead."

And with one last breath, Credo laid back and closed his eyes, never to open them again. His body glowed a golden light, before finally vanishing to the wind. Jaune grasped his hand at the empty air, his tears still dripping down. Still stuck at the gem, Kyrie broke down hysterically, unable to properly react at seeing her brother's death.

Annoyed by her screams, Sanctus backhanded the poor teen and knocked her unconscious, her body being sucked back into the gem of the Savior. Jaune's body exploded in a violent haze of blue, his eyes burning an even darker shade of red as his pseudo-Devil Trigger sprung into life, completely livid at the corrupted vicar.

"**SANCTUS!"**

The Son of Vergil roared and flew up to the megalomaniac with blazing fury. He readied to end Sanctus's life with one swing. Unfortunately, he had been blinded by his anger and did not see the Savior swing his arm. Jaune cried out as he was caught in the grip of the Savior, forcing him to drop his weapons, including Yamato. Agnus, still in his demon form, flew down, gingerly picking up the O-katana with slight reverence.

"**Go, Agnus. And prepare for this world's Judgement Day." **ordered Sanctus.

The research bowed and headed for Castle Town Fortuna…where the real Hell Gate was. Just as he had left, Dante arrived, having beaten most of the Order's foot soldiers, accompanied by both Lady and Trish. The Legendary Devil Hunter saw his nephew captured and was about to rush in to go and free him.

"No! Forget about me, go and save Yamato!" he cried out, pointing at the retreating figure of Agnus. Jaune felt himself weaken as he began to sink into the statue. "I'll be fine for now… Just go, Uncle D!"

Those were his final words as his body was absorbed to complete the Savior's core. Sanctus looked down on the three devil hunters, smug as snake.

"**If it isn't Gloria. Unfortunately for you all, your efforts were in vain. In the end, you've given me the Devil Sword Sparda, and now the Yamato is in my hands. And with Nero's blood to form the Savior's core, my victory is assured! Surrender your unconditional and undying loyalty to me now while you still breathe!"**

The Devil May Cry crew responded in kind, firing at the megalomaniac with their respective guns. Of course, this was ineffective as his shield surrounding him bounced them off.

**"How utterly disappointing."**

The entire room trembled as the Savior began to ascend into the sky, a partially-formed halo materialized behind it as the giant statue began to head for the mainland of Fortuna. Dante couldn't help but crack a smirk and joke about its appearance.

"Check it out, it's got wings!"

Lady shook her head, inspecting it with a critical eye. "I don't know. It looks pretty tacky me."

Every funny bone in their body vanished, now replaced with utmost seriousness. Dante turned to his companions. "Let's stick to the plan. You two, head into the city and continue the evacuation. If people still don't want to come with, then leave them 's their call. I'll go and find Yamato, then regroup with you both."

The two ladies nodded in agreement and they swiftly headed for their respective destinations, leaving Dante behind. The Second Son shook his head and just jumped down the spiral staircase.


	12. Fall From Grace

**This is it. The final chapter for the DMC4 part. Hope that this meets all of your expectations. Now, after this, I'll be delving next into parts from the TAS, along with original elements. So look forward to that. ****That's everything that I really needed to say. Please, read and review!**

* * *

Inside of a ceremonial chamber, underneath the Castle Town of Fortuna, Agnus walked up to a round platform that had a pulsing red circle with a blood red gem in the center, holding Yamato with a wide grin.

"Lend me your ears… and fangs." he called out. "Destroy this world so that the true utopia can be born!"

Agnus plunged the katana into the gem, enveloping the platform in a brilliant white light. It eventually faded, and revealed the entire chamber was covered in intricate red markings, spreading throughout the entire flooring. Angus looked around, smiling appreciatively at his surroundings, and that their plan was coming to fruition.

"Judgement Day has arrived!"

In the city, the people of Fortuna looked on in horror as they witnessed the Hell Gate tremble, like a volcano that was about to erupt. Their horror soon magnified into fear, as the large monolith structure burst open, countless demons pouring out like an infestation. The civilians began to panic and ran for their lives, focused on getting away.

Some had managed to escape. Some had hidden throughout the buildings, hoping the demons wouldn't see them. Some were unfortunate enough to trip down, leaving them at the mercy of the demons that had emerged. A few people were even desperate enough to fall to their knees, praying for their precious Savior to save them.

In the corner of an alley, a family of five were huddled together, trying to protect each other. Three demons floated down, staring them down menacingly, brandishing their claws. The father noticed this and hugged his wife and children tighter, hoping for some sort of miracle.

And it arrived in the form of a Bianco Angelo. Just as the demons were about to attack, the Order's personal demon swooped in and killed them all in an instant. The family looked up at the Bianco in awe, believing it to be an angel that their Lord, Sparda, had sent.

Throughout the city, numerous Biancos were easily killing the demons that ravaged it. In the distance, the citizens of Fortuna saw the Savior approach the cities, accompanied by more Biancos to assist in killing the demons. Sanctus stood on top of the Savior, projecting his voice so his people would hear him.

"**Do not fear! Our Savior has come for us, to deliver us salvation! We must repent, and rejoice, for the world has not yet come to an end!"**

Slowly, but surely, a look of hope filled the people of Fortuna, slowly picking themselves up and gazing reverently at the statue of Sparda. They all watched in joy as the Savior released a beam of light, sweeping it across the city, incinerating the demons it touched. Sanctus cackled maniacally, looking gleeful that everything was proceeding as planned.

From another island behind the city, Dante watched the entire spectacle and applauded sarcastically.

"That's a solid performance for an old fart like you."

He looked at the distance between the island he was on, and the city where Sanctus, and hopefully Yamato, was located. Coupled with the fact that it was also separated by a large body of water didn't make things easier. However, Dante smirked, not at all bothered.

"Always wondered what it would be like to run on water."

The Son of Sparda sparked red for a brief moment and he jumped down onto the water. Instead of sinking, he remained afloat. He grinned lifting his foot to see his soles covered by a small glyph. He looked up at the Savior, grunting in excitement

"Better hurry. Wouldn't want to miss the party!"

Dante rushed off, zooming through the water at breakneck speed. He could have chosen to transform into his Devil Trigger and flew over to the city, but he didn't want to run the risk of being tracked and hit by the Savior. He glanced at his sword, talking to it out loud.

"Hey Reb, you sense where you sister's at?"

"**Okay, first off, ****how many times have I told you not to**** call me Reb****? ****It makes it sound like my name is Rebecca, or something. And secondly, yes. She's right in that opera house where we momentarily fought Jaune and scared the hell out of the people there… We should do that more often!"**

Dante couldn't help but shake his head and cracked a smirk in amusement at how Rebellion would act. It was like he didn't know if he should act like his namesake or subvert it and act like some refined man. The Son of Sparda shook off those thoughts. His mind then drifted to Jaune. While he had hoped that he was safe, he was more focused at what his nephew had told him while they ventured towards the Order's Headquarters.

While he was worried about his nephew, he was of Sparda and could survive being in the Savior for a while. He was more focused on the information he was given.

**_"Hey, Uncle D_****_ante_****_. Remember the time when we found Nora and Ren but we didn't know who did those cruel and inhuman experiments on them? Well, I found the bastard. It's the Order's researcher - Agnus. If, for some reason, I haven't gotten my hands on him, please do the honors and _****_slaughter him yourself. Ren, Nora and all the children that they've killed deserve justice."_**

Dante lost his usually joking self, hastening his speed even further, making him see like a blur. "Don't worry kid. I'll be putting him through the wringer. Make him wish he never even lived. No one messes with the Spardas."

* * *

Sitting on the steps, Agnus was reading through his notes, with only a spotlight to, well, light up the room, accompanied by a melody playing in the background. The researcher looked up, taking notice that he was no longer alone.

"It was my assumption that those demons would prove far inferior... In the face of your tactics."

The spotlight switched from him to Dante, who had his foot up on a chair. "You summon and kill..." He kicked himself off the chair, pacing around as he made over exaggerated hand gestures. "Summon and kill... I fail to see the logic here. Is sanity the price to pay for power!?

Once again, the light shone on Agnus, who was now holding a human skull." Humans... They are but stubborn and foolish. It takes a journey to Hell for them to accept and praise their God. A fact that tickle's irony's judgment."

He crushed the skull with ease, and blew the dust towards Dante. The Legendary Devil Hunter sat on the floor, posing." And your judgments interests me not." He quickly got up on his feet, making even more hammy gestures." For I'm here... To reclaim... What is rightfully mine."

Dante dashed back as Agnus, having transformed into his demon form, wielding his blade. He held up his weapon, swinging it around as he gestured and posed.

**"Yamato! That is what you seek. And that is why I wait in your path!" **

Again, the light shined on Dante, as he slid on top of a chair, confetti exploding out of nowhere. "You will fumble in your opposition of my quest." He drew Ivory and fired off a shot in the air, jumping onto his father's statue. "Though I encourage! For an opportunity to battle a being of such grand delusions as you, is a sweet fortune!"

He finished it off, giving the researcher a menacing grin, unnerving Agnus. However, he was undeterred and charged at the devil hunter. Dante simply jumped out of the way, causing the insect to crash into the statue. The Son of Sparda clapped his hands, and a duplicate of him emerged, scaring the researcher. Both of them struck a pose and smirked.

"Stand still!"

And he did. A rift wave of colors emerged from their bodies and enveloped the entire room. Everything was now tinted with a hint of gray and paused, while the two Dantes looked the same and could move normally. Original and doppelganger moved to Agnus' sides, drawing out Rebellion.

"We only got nine seconds. So let's make this count!" declared the doppelganger.

The two moved at breakneck speed and started barraging the frozen demonic researcher with a string of slashes, stabs and strikes. From Stingers, to Helm Breakers, Million Stabs and Dance Macabre, they had it all. When they reached their time limit, they dashed back, striking another flamboyant pose.

"Alright. Time in!"

The colors washed back and returned to normal, time resuming. Agnus looked confused, before crying out in pain as he felt the pain of a million swords attack him. This completely dazed him, allowing the Dantes to attack him again. They equipped Lucifer and drew out numerous swords, spreading and positioning them across the room. One of them switched to Pandora and fired off numerous rockets, sending the insect into the air.

The red swords closed in on him and pierced from all directions, and it kept on coming, making for a very painful attack. The two then switched to Gilgamesh and dashed up to the fallen scientist. One of the Dantes, and for clarification's sake, we'll call him Durante, held up Agnus, allowing for Dante to move in and deliver numerous devastating blows, all powered by the thruster on the gauntlets. Durante released Agnus and pushed him to the original, who then held him up. The duplicated cracked his knuckles…before unleashing a flurry of powerful kicks, the last one sending him straight into the air.

Even then, the poor bastard didn't get the time to recover and recuperate. The two followed him into the air, and started attacking with stylish fury. Agnus had hoped that it would end soon, but frankly for him, it didn't. Dante and Durante weren't even touching the ground and were remaining afloat in the air, through a trick he had developed. Since his changing of styles had no exact cool down, he could switch to any of them freely with no consequences.

So, what he was doing, was switching between Swordmaster and Trickster in very quick succession, allowing them to get numerous hits in while remaining homed in on the target. Although, an annoyance is that Dante had the tendency of shouting out whatever style he was equipping. So, much to Agnus' sorrow, he was bombarded with the extremely annoying sound of,

"**SWORDTRICKSWORDTRICKSWORDTRICKSWORDTRICKSWORDTRICK!"**

After zooming around and slashing at the defenseless researcher, the two slammed him onto the ground, creating a large web-shaped cracked. Dante dismissed Durante and transformed into his Devil Trigger. Immediately, he dashed forward and delivered a vicious Straight, sending Agnus stumbling back, very wounded and dazed. He switched back to his trusty, old partner and started swinging, sending out multiple Drives at the architect of his son's suffering.

Normally, he really would have given Agnus a chance to defend himself and allow a few of his attacks to hit. But not this time. No way in hell. The constant nightmares that plagued Ren and Nora. His smug face etched into their minds. The screams and horror that they had to endure. He had to do something about it.

Sensing that Agnus was on his last wind, he simply walked up to him and jabbed him on the chest, sending him flying into one of the stands. The researched glowed, his demonic form fading. A look of fear and disbelief crossed his face, trying to make sense of what just happened.

"How... can there be such a difference b-b-b-between us?!"

Dante receded his demon form, shrugging as he responded. "You surrendered your humanity. It's that simple."

"But you are not human...!" argued Agnus. "So why am I inferior!?"

The Son of Sparda glared at the Order's researcher, but decided to humor him for a moment before he gave him his just desserts. "You assume humans are weak... Okay yeah, their bodies lack the physical ability of a demon, but humans possess something that demons don't.

Agnus, who had been taking notes on what Dante was saying, looked up, very intrigued at what he had to say. "What...? What is it that demons l-l-lack? Please, for the sake of my research! Please! Tell me!"

Dante didn't dignify him with a verbal response, and instead drew out Ivory, shooting his clipboard, causing all of his notes to fly and scatter into the air. Agnus shrieked in horror. All of his data. All of the information he had written down, ruined! "No! No, no! Oh no, no no no no…"

He tried to reach out to his destroyed notes, but a hand choke slammed him onto the wall. Agnus tried to wrench it free, but had gasped when he saw Durante staring him down with a menacing grin. Meanwhile, Dante was about to head for the ceremonial chamber. He turned to his doppelganger and merely gave him a two finger salute. As he ventured downward, the Son of Sparda could hear the terrified screams of Agnus, making him smile in satisfaction.

He walked along the platform, quietly reaching Yamato as she hummed with demonic energy. He reached out to grab her, but slightly hesitated. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and yanked the blade out with a flourish. In an instant, the markings receded and disappeared. The Second Son gazed softly at the katana and allowed a sad smile to encompass his face.

"Hey, Yams. It's been a while."

It took a moment for her to respond, as is assessing who was holding her. **"Dante… Yes, it has. And I'm guessing Rebellion is with you as well."**

Said sword momentarily glowed, greeting his sibling. **"Hey, sis. How have you been? You get your beauty sleepy yet?"**

Yamato snorted haughtily and let out a whimsical sigh. **"I missed that banter of yours. It's been lonely being stuck in that lab for so many years… To be honest, when I felt you take me out, I had hope that it was Vergil who grabbed me."**

"I can't blame you… But I can never be Vergil." he agreed, very seriously. His mood then did a full 180 as he walked back up, placing the sword back in her sheath. "So! What's your opinion on his kid so far?"

"**Hmm. He reminds me of master. Their similarities for their want of power is scarily similar, but its tempered by the hints of you being mixed in. Overall, he is very fun."**

"Yeah? Well, then I guess you won't mind staying with him, then?"

Yamato merely glowed brightly as a response, making Dante smile. When he had arrived back at the opera house, Durante stood over a very much catatonic Agnus, foaming heavily from the mouth, his eyes bugged out of its sockets as blood poured down his body. His doppelganger merely nodded vanishing back into the original.

Dante looked down at the researcher before disregarding him to head up to the town, where the real Hell Gate was. "I know this thing's a major cultural artifact…" He tossed Yamato to his left hand, pointing at the monolith. "But it's bad for the community."

Swiftly, he drew out Yamato and slashed at the Hell Gate, the incision appearing. For good measure, he swung a few more times at the air before ending it with a flourish, slowly sheathing back the katana. Once she clicked into place, the Hell Gate's upper half slid off and fell to the ground, revealing the still floating Savior, hovering over the island.

Dante stared at the giant statue, looking at it with a confident smirk. "Guess it's just you and me now, Mr. Savior." He quickly made his way up to a higher vantage point, getting him much more closer to the Savior. Numerous Bianco Angelos circled around the giant statue, acting like a protective axis.

Sanctus, within an Alto Angelo, floated down to meet eye-to-eye with Dante.

"**You destroyed the Hell Gate!" **he stated furiously.** "Then that would mean Agnus has fallen."**

"Yeah... kinda tainted the view. So... you ready to fight now or what?

Sanctus titled his head, a bit curious. **"****You travelled this far to fight me!? You could never touch the power of the Savior!****"**

Dante smirked, deciding to riling up the false vicar even more. "Sounds like you're overcompensating... Besides, I didn't want you to get a creak in your neck from looking down at me."

"**Silence!****"** ordered Sanctus. He himself stopped talking, musing on what to offer the Son of Sparda for him to go away. **"****What would it take for you to alter your position?****"**

The Legendary Devil Hunter seemed to think about it for a good minute, before shaking his head, lightly chuckling. "How about death?"

Clearly not amused by the response, Sanctus ordered the Angelos to charge forward. Dante smirked and kicked one of them down, before smacking away another with Yamato still sheathed. Every Angelo that neared him, he swiftly dispatched without the need to draw out the legendary sword. Jumping off another of the Order's demon, he threw Yamato at a group of the demons, knocking them out, heading straight for Sanctus. The armored megalomaniac merely spread his legs to avoid it.

Jumping from Angelo to platform, Dante glided over, racing to grab his brother's sword. Drawing out Rebellion, he plunged him into the Savior, allowing him to stand on it. Once more, he confronted Sanctus, not at all looking tired.

"So, you ready to eat your words?" he asked, bringing up Yamato, preparing to unsheathe her.

Sanctus scoffed, not even regarding the half-devil as a threat. **"Do as you wish, your attempts are futile!"**

The False Vicar charged forward with his own Durandal and slashed at Dante, only to find that he had disappeared. From behind him, Dante landed down and shot a single bullet, breaking apart the Alto Angelo armor, revealing that Sanctus was just actually controlling it.

"The true form must be inside..." he surmised. Dante grinned, getting to rumble with the Savior. "Looks like it's up to me to take care of ugly here!"

Transforming into his Devil Trigger, Dante accessed his Doppelganger style and split himself into three. All of them unfurled their wings and spread off to the blue gems on the statue's body. Because, come on, how can it not be a weak point? The Savior was confused, not knowing which one to target. Unfortunately, this costed it. With their speed, they made quick work of the jewels and shattered them all in an instant.

"**No! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" **

The Dantes flew around, striking the Savior at different parts of its body. However, their attacks against it proved ineffective. They all converged back into one, a plan already in mind. He jumped off the platform and impaled Yamato into its chest. Sanctus tried to grab him, while he tried to stab it in even further.

"**Even Yamato is powerless in opposition to the Savior!"** he declared, assured of his victory.

However, he had fallen into Dante's plan. The Son of Sparda jumped back, avoiding the large hand. "If the exterior's solid…" He drew out Ebony and Ivory, firing off multiple bullets and struck Yamato's handle multiple times, pushing it into the Savior's core. "Then you gotta take it from the inside." he finished, landing onto his previous position.

The Savior collapse forward, infuriating Sanctus. **"No…! What have you done?!" **he demanded.

Dante ignored the old fart and focused on calling out his nephew. "Time to wake up, kid, you're missing out on all the fun!" When he didn't respond, Dante grew worried. "Jaune…!"

From inside the Savior, Jaune's hand emerged from the cocoon and grabbed the Yamato, slicing himself free from his confinement. He fell out from his prison, panting heavily as he felt his father's sword heal him, with Dante's voice resonating from outside.

"It's up to you from here, kid! An opportunity to save the world doesn't happen every day you know! Think of it as birthday present for all those parties I missed out! Beats getting a Devil Arm, huh!"

Jaune smiled and forced himself up, staggering a bit. "This I will savor…" He twirled around the Yamato and clicked her back in her sheath, blazing determination in his eyes. "Time to clean up this mess!"

Dante nodded, forcing the Savior's attention all on him. "Do what you have to do, kid, 'cause I'm about to send this guy on a one way trip to Hell!"

The Son of Vergil hurried up, as his uncle fought off the artificial demon. Dante quickly jumped as the Savior tried to smack him away, landing onto its left wrist and stabbed it. He looked up, and dodged another attack, jumping onto its right hand. Dante ran up its arm and slid down, narrowly avoiding the left hand that tried to crush him. He stabbed Rebellion into its palm, dragging him along as the Savior pulled back his arm.

The large demon pulled back both arm and, at sudden speed, clasped his hands together in an attempt to smash Dante to paste. Of course, the devil hunter was too fast, standing on top of his hands with a smug grin. He jumped back, only to be met with the sudden punch from the Savior. He kicked himself away and landed safely onto its arm once again.

"Don't you worry. I'm gonna get this done!" declared Jaune, his voice echoing out from the demon.

Dante smirked, wishing his nephew the best of luck.

* * *

Jaune rushed through the area, coming to a stop as he's met with a life-sized statue of himself, holding the Yamato with both hands. Besides it, there was a six-sided die and numerous multi-colored platforms that line up a path that elevated up to about a few other levels that had the same platforms, making the white-haired teen frown deeply.

"Oh great. I don't have time for this!"

He grabbed Yamato by her handle and sliced the die and his statue into two. He covered his eyes as a bright light emerged from the broken die. Jaune lowered his arm, and was met the sight of numerous demons surrounding him. Some familiar, some were not. But he didn't let this deter him. He cracked his neck, slipping into a stance, glaring at every demon in the room.

"Come and get some!"

All of them roared and lunged right at him with the intent to kill. Jaune simply dashed back and released a Judgement Cut sphere, obliterating the demons idiotic enough to dodge, which were the Scarecrows. He jumped back, dodging the Assaults that had popped out of the ground. He quickly descended back and slashed through with ease.

A group of Frosts released a blast of ice, hoping to impale then freeze the teen. Jaune instinctively raised his hand by instinct, and the apparition of a shield materialized, blocking the projectile. He looked at his arm in confusion, before remembering how it glowed when it made contact with Credo's shield.

"I see… Thank you, Credo." he softly said, with a sad smile.

Mephistos and Fausts surrounded the hybrid. The latter surrounded itself in spheres and summoned out numerous swords, firing them consecutively at the teen. Jaune expertly weaved around the projectiles sent at him, all the while defending himself against the Mephistos, slicing off their fingers before it could touch him. The Son of Vergil dashed back and unleashed an imperfect version of Judgement Cut, the Slash Dimension, which had more range and coverage, but less power than the former attack.

The barrage of strikes diced up the two levitating demons, putting them out of commission. A group of Gladius flew up to the teen and surrounded him. They turned into their sword forms and split off into two groups, one that tried to stab and one that went for an upward slash.

Jaune channeled the Royal Guard and blocked all of their attacks. A surge of power flew within him. The beauty that was Royal Guard. For every attack that was blocked, the energy from it would be built up, and he could rebound it right back for a devastating counterattack. Seeing an opening, he gathered the accumulated energy and thrust through the lesser-demons, covered in a flicker of blue energy.

"**Royal Release!"**

He skidded to a stop, jumping over as another Mephisto tried to attack him. Jaune rolled his neck and prepared for another onslaught.

* * *

Dante flipped back, blocking the punch from the Savior with Rebellion. A large shock wave erupted, destroying some of the surrounding buildings. Taking the time, he jumped onto the hand and ran along its arm, shooting it with his shotgun, Coyote-A. The devil hunter slid off and Stingered it in the chest, and shot at it point blank.

Of course, this still didn't have any sort of effect, and the artificial demon was still unharmed. Switching to Trickster Style, he teleported away from the Savior and equipped himself with Pandora, turning it into Hatred. With a smirk, he fired off numerous rockets at the flying statue.

The Savior merely fired off its beam of light at the rockets, blowing them up before it could reach him. Dante was undeterred and switched to Gilgamesh. Charging up the boosters on its greaves, he went for a dive kick, striking it in the chest.

Much to the shock of Sanctus, this had managed to stumble the Savior back, allowing the Son of Sparda to barrage it with boosted attacks. The power hungry bastard called upon more of his Angelos and ordered them to attack Dante. The half-devil smirked and back kicked the Bianco in the chest, sending it flying into one of its fellow knights. He spun around and caught the Alto's sword before it could pierce his chest.

"Sorry, but I ain't in the mood for this dance!"

Dante pushed back the Alto and struck it with a vicious Straight before charging up rising uppercut, knocking off its head. He took noticed of the Savior attempting to punch him again and used the falling Angelo as a stepping stone to launch himself onto the top of a building.

"Hey! What's the hold up, kid?" he called out to his nephew.

* * *

Back inside the Savior, Jaune was currently dealing with numerous Cutlass, deflecting each of their strikes and countering with his own, and more precise attacks. He Tricked up and released a barrage of slashes in under five seconds that killed them all.

Before he could further act, a Bianco Angelo held him in a blade lock. He flared out his demonic energy and pushed back the artificial demon. He quickly dealt with it in four strikes. The Son of Vergil jumped up, dodging the lunging Echidna. He smirked and Snatched onto the female demon, and used the opportunity to ride her and cut down some of the airborne demons that plagued the room.

Once Echidna had took notice, she shook him off and launched some of her seeds at the teen. Jaune grunted and sent them all back to sender with Yamato's sheath, smacking her to the point that it actually dazed her. Taking advantage, he replied to his uncle.

"Well excuse me, but I'm in the middle of a battle royale. So sit your ass tight, old man, and let me finish!"

As soon as he said that, Echidna had recovered and chomped down on him, leaving only his Devil Bringer sticking out. Jaune grunted, not amused. He charged up his energy into his arm and pried open the she-viper's mouth, before snapping it. He grabbed her by the tail and Bustered her, spinning Echidna around like a ragdoll until he tossed her into the air. He cocked back his fist and struck her on the chest, sending her straight to the spiked ceiling, impaling her.

Dusting his hands off, Jaune looked to the left and saw Basilisks stalking up to him. The Lone Son cracked his knuckles, taking a hold of Yamato once again as the hell hound-like demons approached him.

* * *

Dante chuckled at Jaune's response, as he hung upside down on the palm of the Savior. He jumped off, dodging as the Savior's other hand try to grab him once again. He repulsed himself back and equipped himself with Lucifer. He pulled out numerous swords, flinging them into the air, as he moved from platform to platform.

Sanctus saw this as futile, still trying to catch the nimble half-devil. **"Your intentions are all for naught. The power of the Savior cannot be overcome by a mere Devil Arm!"**

"Okay, boomer."

The Savior was now completely surrounded with numerous swords, making Dante smirk. He clapped his hands and they all converged on the artificial demon. Unfortunately, Sanctus was right and the endeavor bore no fruit. The Savior was still unharmed.

Dante dodged its left hook and jumped onto its hand, stabbing it. The large statue merely tried to shake off the devil hunter. This action, also affected its insides, causing the core to shake and tremble. Finally, it had managed to dislodge Dante. Before he could plummet down, he quickly impaled Rebellion into its stomach, slightly panting.

"Talk about shaking things up in here!" commented Jaune.

"Hey, kid! You should see what I'm going through!"

* * *

Back inside of the Savior, Jaune shook his head, chuckling. Surrounding him were the numerous corpses of the demons, all of them starting to dissolve. "Guess we're in the same boat, then."

As he said this, Echidna's body dropped down, no longer moving. Acting swiftly, Jaune sliced the plant demon in half, before dealing out a couple of more strikes that left nothing of her. Sheathing back Yamato, he let out a sigh and ventured even deeper into the core.

Eventually, he arrived and saw what was basically the Savior's heart. He stopped, seeing Kyrie trapped inside of it. She fluttered her eyes open, very surprised of Jaune's presence. The white-haired teen gave her a comforting smile and went to step forward. However, Sanctus emerged from the side, crackling with power as he held the Devil Sword Sparda dangerously close to the redhead's throat.

"**We had originally intended Dante to form the Savior's core. Perhaps it would have been wise to adhere to that choice."**

Sanctus turned around, revealing just how corrupted he had become. He had horn-like appendages sticking out of his back, with fiery-like wings to accompany it. A jewel was now on his forehead, resembling the Savior's, demonic red eyes, with veins creeping up his face, and angelic halo-like horns similar to the Savior's wings.

Jaune glared heatedly at the megalomaniac, tightly gripping the Yamato. "I don't care about any of your regrets, old man. You're the only one left in the Order. Make this easier for the both of us and release Kyrie!"

"**Why oppose the Order?"** inquired the mad man. **"I knew your faith was weak, but I always thought you served our wishes."**

"Well isn't that a bit contradictory. If my faith was weak, why the hell would I serve the Order's wishes? That doesn't make any sense. And besides," Jaune drew out Yamato, pointing her at Sanctus's heart. "You've pissed me off. You're guilty by association of experimenting on all of those children, using Kyrie and killing Credo!"

Kyrie looked at Jaune, lightly smiling at him, before looking surprised as she was sucked into the heart. Sanctus sneered at Sparda's Grandson, brimming with power. Jaune sent out an energy slash at him, who repelled it back with an energy ball. The teen easily deflected it, with the Aegis Shield. However, Sanctus had vanished, making him grunt.

"Hey, kid! Come on, it's time to finish this!"

Jaune smiled, agreeing with his uncle wholeheartedly. "I'll be out in a few. Just wrapping things up on my end!"

"**Don't be too sure, boy!"**

Sanctus emerged from behind him. Jaune quickly turned around and tried to grab Sanctus with his Devil Bringer, but he had sunk back into the ground, and popping out in front of the Savior's heart core, wielding the Devil Sword Sparda.

"**Although flawed, the power of the Savior is beyond that of which you can defeat!" **he declared, sending out an energy ball.

Jaune roared and easily extinguished it with a single stroke from Yamato, the impact kicking up some dust that knocked the both of them back. Sanctus growled and floated into the air, erecting a protective sphere around him like earlier.

**"You will fail!"**

The madman launched two waves of energy ont he ground. Jaune jumped up and Snatched onto him. He wildly swung the blade at a rapid pace, breaking the shield and leaving Sanctus vulnerable. Grabbing with him a Buster, he knocked him down, following it up with a powerful haymaker to the face, slamming him into the heart.

Sanctus grunted and pried himself off, disappearing in a blink. Jaune raised his senses, looking around to guess where he'll pop out. The megalomaniac reappeared from behind with a war cry. The Son of Vergil deflected both of Sanctus's sloppy strikes and countered with his own.

Jaune grabbed Sparda off of his hands and stabbed him into his chest, pushing him back. The Corrupted Vicar pulled off the Devil Sword and floated back into the air.

**"The Savior is coming!"**

He regenerated his shield, and released a bright blast that stunned Jaune. Sanctus grinned and fired out numerous fireballs at Jaune, juggling him around. He charged up to the Arc and struck him with the Sparda, sending him into the ground.

**"Resistance is futile!"**

Sanctus lowered the Sparda and released a powerful shockwave, knocking Jaune off his feet and forcing him to drop Yamato. Channeling energy into the sword, he tossed it towards the white-haired teen, slicing him up and pushing him into the wall.

Jaune groaned, and was about to pull off the Devil Sword, until Sanctus bashed him with his sphere shield. He called back the Sparda and sent out crackles of lightning to the pinned teen. The Son of Vergil cried out in pain, trying to resist the pain.

Jaune called out to the Yamato, and she flew into his hand. Power surged into him as he activated his pseudo-DT, flinging away Sanctus, his shield shattering as he was stabbed by some Summoned Swords.

**"Scum!"**

Jaune and his phantom whacked the false vicar twice with the sheath, before drawing out Yamato and struck him two times in quick succession. He glared at him and clicked the katana back into her Saya, and started barraging him with multitudes of slashes, faster than the normal eye could track.

With a roar, he ended the attack in a 180 degree sweep, sheathing back the blade. Sanctus cried out in pain as numerous cuts appeared all over his body. He glared at the old man and Bustered him once again with a powerful haymaker, slamming him into the heart.

Jaune stared with contempt as Sanctus slid off and fell into the ground, panting as his blood poured out.

**"Give up, old man. All you have ****are ****words filled with empty promises. You're nothing without the Savior."**

**"Don't be sure about that! I am still Fortuna's Vicar. For that, I sentence you to death!" **

Jaune's eyes widened as pillars of red light pierces through his body, making him gasp out blood. He stumbled, his body wracked in pain as his blood dripped down. Sanctus cackled and sent down laser airstrikes on Jaune, pushing him hard into the ground.

**"Like I told you, the power of the Savior is beyond you! Now, repent!"**

The power hungry madman sent out a ground wave attack, pushing him back and caused him to roll over. Jaune grunted, trying to force himself up but only succeeded in getting on his knees. Sanctus floated down, looking at the teen with a hint of respect as he raised the Devil Sword to deliver the final blow.

**"Despite your actions, I must salute a man who has the blood of our Savior. But now, you will die, knowing that your blood will be used for the good of all. Say your prayers, Nero!"**

As he was about to bring down the Sparda on him, Jaune's eyes shot open and he Bustered the sword, intercepting the attack and staggering him. The Son of Vergil lunged at the power-hungry madman and tugged at his grandfather's weapon, trying to pull it off Sanctus's grasp.

**"No...! Stop!"**

Jaune obliged by letting go and launched Sanctus with a uppercut, quickly following it up with a devastating blow and Bustered him for a third time into the Savior's heart. The megalomaniac fell off, allowing Jaune to slash at his abdomen, causing him to stumble back and stare at the Devil Sword in confusion.

**"The power of Sparda... Why won't you give me strength?! Am I not worthy?!" **he bellowed out, fruitlessly trying to make sense of his situation.

Jaune stared at Sanctus with a blank look, before sneering at him. "You're an idiot for thinking you ever were in the first place. My grandfather betrayed the demons for humans because of their heart. By defending them, Sparda himself gained a heart, one that allowed him to love a human. Something that you reject and abhor!"

At this moment, Sanctus broke down in villainous fury. He charged at Jaune with a rabid cry, aiming for one last resort. The Son of Vergil glared at him and dashed up to meet the false vicar, shifting into an Iajitsu stance.

The two of them swung their respective weapons and struck each other in the chest. For a moment, none of them moved, until Jaune lurched forward, blood dripping down the corners of his mouth. Sanctus grinned, about to celebrate his victory, when Jaune quickly steadied himself and swung down Yamato, sheathing her back. Numerous blades of lights covered Sanctus, making him gape in horror as numerous wounds opened up out of nowhere. The madman screamed as he felt his body wracked with pain.

The Savior 's heart glowed, revealing Kyrie. Jaune sliced down her confinements and caught her in his other hand. The two caught each other in their gaze, and allowed a smile to tug at their lips.

Meanwhile, Sanctus screamed in complete agony as his body faded away into nothingness.

Jaune winced, finally feeling the strain on his body take its toll. Kyrie looked at him in worry, seeing his wounds still open.

"You're hurt." she pointed out.

The white-haired teen tried to cover it up with a smile, but ended up making himself wince even more.

"Don't worry about me. This is nothing my healing won't fix. Got used to being hurt when I trained with Dante."

Kyrie shook her head and closed her eyes, placing her hands over his chest and shoulders. Jaune looked in awe as a glow of emerald green shrouded over her before it focused on her hands. Much to his surprise, he could feel his wounds close up, his fatigue lessen and his body a bit more energetic. A moment later, and he was fully healed, like he hadn't even participated in a fight.

"A Semblance...!" he realized. "You have your Aura unlocked."

Kyrie nodded. She parted her lips to say something, until she suddenly broke down crying, tears rapidly streaming down her cheeks. Jaune gently cupped her head, asking what was wrong. The young redhead wiped away some of her tears and responded.

"C-Credo... He insisted that my Aura be unlocked in any case that I was endangered. I unlocked my Semblance after had he had injured himself during his mission..."

At the mention of his name, Jaune hung his head low, starting to feel regret and tear up as well. "I'm sorry, Kyrie. It's my fault that Credo died. I couldn't protect him..."

Despite the tears, Kyrie shook her head, giving him a smile. "No, it isn't. Credo died how he wanted, fighting for what he believed in..." She stared at him confused. "But now, what do I do? I don't have anyone left..."

Jaune offered her a smile and a helping hand. "You and your brother showed me kindness even though we were strangers. Now, it's time that I repay it."

* * *

Back outside, Dante had lowered down into the city, along with the Savior. The Devil Hunter jumped back as the artificial demon threw down a punch. He grunted and blocked the attack with Rebellion. Dante looked up, noticing that the Savior fell to its knees and became immobile. He smiled at the implication.

"It's over."

He nudged away the fist to see Lady and Trish running up to him with their weapons drawn out, the former looking a tad disappointed.

"Guess we missed the party."

The trio looked up to see the gem on the Savior's forehead shatter as Jaune jumped out, carrying Kyrie bridal style with the Sparda secured on his back. Dante crossed his arms and smiled at his nephew, giving him a look filled of pride.

"You sure took your time, kid."

Jaune set down Kyrie and turned to shrug at his uncle. Lady and Trish patted him on the shoulders, congratulating him on a job well done. All around, the citizens of Fortuna, at least, those who remained stubborn and didn't join in on the evacuation, stared at the group with mixed feelings. Some looked on with fear. Some had anger. Others were just confused.

Dante turned to tell them all something, when the devil hunters sensed that things still weren't over. The Savior rose up, it's facial features having been replaced with that of Sanctus, bearing a scowl full of fury and rage.

**"Damn you, damn you all! I will make you all pay for this treacherous treason! I should have become a god! The god that was supposed to shepherd the pathetic sheep in Fortuna! I was fated to become the ruler of this world and make it beautiful! Power... Power is the only thing that should exist and matter! Things like emotion have no place in my world!"**

Unbeknownst to Sanctus, the people of Fortuna heard him. They all looked at the False Savior with many emotions. All of their anger at the Devil May Cry crew had disappeared, now directing it all at Sanctus. They had been lied to!

Dante frowned, uncrossing his arms. "This guy just doesn't let it go!"

Jaune agreed. He handed over the Sparda to Trish, walking up to the madman. He stopped, sweeping his hair back, and turned to face his uncle.

"Come on, Dante. Let's end his miserable life."

For a moment, Dante could see an image of his brother flicker over Jaune. The half-devil shook his head and chuckled, joining him.

"Whatever you say, kid."

Sanctus growled almost in an almost animal-like tone as the two cambions approached him.

**"The power of the Savior can't be beaten by the mere likes of you!**

He raised both fists into the sky and brought them down, only for it be deflected by Rebellion and Yamato. The two devil hunters jumped up and grabbed their respective weapons, striking at his face.

Sanctus howled in agony as the blades left gashes on his face. He foolishly thought that by absorbing himself into the Savior, it would magnify its power, but that, along with the loss of Jaune and Sparda, had considerably weakened it instead.

The two circled around the still form of Sanctus and attacked him at all multiple points. Having enough, he tried to smack away Jaune, who merely jumped over his hand and switched weapons with Dante. So now he was wielding Rebellion, while his uncle held the Yamato.

Their combined might and teamwork proved too much, with Sanctus unable to even act once. Throwing the swords back to its respective owner, Jaune and Dante dealt a combined blow forcing the False Savior down on its knees. They landed down, gazing at the fully crippled Sanctus with a look of contempt. All that was needed now was to deliver the killing blow.

"Hey, kid."

Jaune looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see Ivory coming right at him. He caught the gun and looked at Dante, who held Ebony with his right hand. The Son of Vergil looked back at Ivory and cracked a smirk, putting two and two together.

"Fine. We'll finish it your way."

Dante allowed a smile to encompass his face as he stepped up to his nephew's side. "You know, I have this little one-liner I say before I kill off a guy like this."

"I think I have an inkling what it is."

At this, his smile was promptly replaced with a wide grin. Sanctus tried to move, but found himself unable to. The Savior's power having been fully diminished. He could do nothing but look up in horror at the two as they lined up their shot and spoke as one.

**"Jackpot!"**

The two of them pulled the trigger, infusing the bullet with their demonic powers. Sanctus could only watch as the bullets struck his forehead and the combined energy enough to disintegrate his face. The body of the Savior crumbled down, no longer moving.

Jaune stared at the thing, almost daring at it to move. But it didn't. This made him sag in relief as it finally dawned on him. It was finally over. They had won.

The two cambions smiled, with Jaune tossing Ivory back to his uncle who promptly holstered away his guns. Dante faced the citizens of Fortuna, looking at them with a quirked brow.

"So, are any of you gonna play nice now that you all have proof that your little vicar was nothing but a power-hungry phoney?"

All of them had the decency to look sheepish. In all honesty, they should have listened to the son of their savior instead of Sanctus, despite his shooting of said vicar. One of the those who where pretty stubborn and even told Dante off, stepped forward, looking quite meek as a cat, voicing out their collective thoughts.

"Does the offer still stand?"

The citizens of Fortuna looked at him, and hoped he would say yes. Dante looked at them all in the eye with a blank look, making them pale in worry. The three other devil hunters stared at him expectantly. The tension was broken as the Son of Sparda cracked a smirk and nodded.

"Of course. You all deserve to move out of here, since, to be frank, it's a mess." Gesturing to Lady and Trish," If you'd all follow my associates, they can lead you to the extraction point where Airship Buses would be. Don't worry, the Mistralian government will handle the rest when we land on Mistral."

"Mistral?" parroted Kyrie in surprise.

* * *

**Aboard the Bullhead**

Kyrie sat on one of the seats, looking out of the window to stare at the many Airship Buses that lined up, following its air path. Jaune gazed at her worriedly, leaning on the wall a couple of seats away from her. He blinked, his uncle tapping by the shoulder and motioning for him to follow.

Dante led him up to a small, compartment room away for everyone else. Jaune sat on the small bed, while Dante remained standing, leaning against the small desk. For a moment, silence reigned among them, until it was inevitably broken by the older cambion.

"So! How did it feel, kid?"

Jaune looked up at him and smiled. "It…was pretty fun. Aside from getting stabbed and injured a couple of times, of course. Other than that, I can see why you chose it as a job. Other than making sure that the people are safe, you get to have a side of entertainment."

Much to his confusion, a frown settled on his uncle's face. "That's not what I meant kid. I was talking about your first kill…of a human."

The teen's eyes hardened, making Dante tense up. The Legendary Devil Hunter straightened up, looking at Jaune straight in the eye.

"Sanctus may have been way pass saving, but a bit of him was still human. You remember what I said, back in that lab? A human can be just as worse, or even beyond, a demon. The world isn't so black and white. There are gray areas that contradict those views."

"I know…" breathed out Jaune. "I get what you mean, Uncle D, I really do… That, sometimes, some just can't be saved and you have to make the choice of putting me down. It's really weird that I killed someone, when I'm only fourteen years old, yeah, but that's not the scary part…"

Dante awaited what he wanted to say, and raised an eyebrow when fear crept up the teen's face.

"It felt good. Every painful moment that I brought him, I enjoyed it…W-why is that, Uncle Dante? What does that make me?! I don't want to become like those bastards that locked up Ren and Nora then experimented on them, or like Sanctus!"

"And you never will be." he assured. Dante tightly grasped his nephew's shoulder, forcing him to look into his eyes. "You're different from them. You have a heart. You kill to protect, not to fulfill some sick pleasure. That enjoyment you feel? I went through the same thing, and trust me, it's what's gonna keep you sane, apart from the ideals that drive you to fight. Don't ever doubt yourself again, kid. And never compare yourself to those bastards."

Jaune closed his eyes and smiled at his uncle appreciatively. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Oh, and by the way, don't worry. I contacted them and went over the details. She doesn't know it. When we land, you're gonna be the one who has to tell her."

"That's fine." agreed Jaune. "I told her I'd come back home and give her a souvenir. And I intend to go through with it."

Before Jaune could leave, Dante whistled out to him and threw two things at him. The former blond caught them and gasped in shock to see his weapons. The Son of Sparda just smirked and shrugged.

"Picked them up before I headed for the opera house."

Jaune smiled and nodded at his uncle in gratitude. He secured Red Queen on his back and placed Blue Rose in its holster, walking out of the room.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

Pyrrha grunted in pain as she rolled around the grass, wincing at the strike delivered to her abdomen. Her father, Astalon, watched impassively as his daughter tried to force herself to stand up, her training weapons, a wooden shield and blunt spear lying a few feet away from her. He sighed and molded his hammer arm back to normal.

"That's enough, baby girl."

"N-No! I can still fight!" she insisted.

The muscular redhead shook his head and helped Pyrrha stand up, gently dusting her. "Not every fight can be won. There are times where you need to retreat, so that you may fight another day. Gather everything you've observed from your opponent, and use it to your advantage."

Pyrrha looked up to her father, asking a question. "But, what if I can't run away? What if I'm stuck?"

Astalon knelt down and looked straight into his daughter's eyes. He clasped her by the shoulders. "Then you must adapt to overcome. Though I pray that that never happens you to, baby girl." The large man smiled and ruffled her hair, to ease the tension that was about to be built up. Rosia stepped out, calling to her daughter.

"Pyrrha, there's someone in the living room that want to see you!"

At this mention, the young redhead's mood lightly soured. "It better not be that punk who's been bothering me." She would've run up to their house, but since she was a bit bruised and fatigued, that probably wasn't a good idea.

Pyrrha approached their living room, putting down her expectations at whoever wanted to see her, even though she really wished it was Jaune. She hadn't heard from him in months, and quite frankly, she missed hanging out with her dearest friend.

So, when she walked into the living room and saw a familiar of mop white hair talking with her mother, she kinda squealed. Every ounce of fatigue and tiredness disappeared as she tackled Jaune, hugging him tightly. The Arc teen smiled and reciprocated the hug, while Rosia muffled her laughter in the background.

"Hello again."

Pyrrha was about to express her joy, when she took notice of someone standing by the door way. She scrambled out of Jaune's embrace and got a better look who it was. Her eyes widened, and so did the other person, recognizing them.

"Kyrie/Pyrrha?" the two of them uttered at the same time.

Jaune got up from his seat and stared at them in surprise and confusion. "You guys know each other?"

Kyrie nodded slowly, a bit in disbelief. "She's the penpal that I was talking about. But, how do you know her?"

"Yeah." agreed Pyrrha. "I...never told anything about her, so how do you know Kyrie?"

The Son of Vergil looked at the two and motioned for them to sit down. He told Kyrie how he met Pyrrha and became friends, then he told the latter of the details of his little trip in Fortuna. This earned him a tear-filled hug and some shouts of anger, but also relief. Then, the topic moved on to a different conversation they had. The two of them moved to continue it up at Pyrrha's room, but not before giving Jaune a heartfelt, bone-crushing hug.

So, now it was just Rosia and Jaune in the living room. The white-haired teen looked at the Nikos matriarch with a hopeful look.

"So, have you and Mr. Nikos made a decision?"

Rosia lightly shook her head, an amused smile on her face. "Come now, Jaune. Please, no need to be so formal with us. Just call me and my husband by our first names. You're our dear daughter's friend. And as for your question," She looked up at the stairs that led up to Pyrrha's room, her smile becoming heartwarming. "There aren't really many times where Pyrrha can be that ecstatic. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to find out that Kyrie will be her new, little sister."

Jaune looked down, finally allowing the smile to grace his lips. "That's great to hear." Then, his mind drifted to something that should be insignificant, yet stuck to him for some odd reasons. Now, he couldn't but feel curious. "Back then, when Pyrrha and I first met, she said that you and Astalon would get sad whenever she would ask for a sibling."

At this, Rosia flinched, making Jaune feel regret as if he overstepped his boundaries.

"Y-You don't have to answer if you're not comfort-"

"No. I suppose you can know why." She grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted up to reveal her abdomen. Jaune's eyes lightly widened when he saw a light scar run across it. "Years ago, when Pyrrha was just a little toddler, our home was broken into. I only knew of it by chance since I was heating up her bottle. The burglar didn't expect for anyone to be home, and panicked… He stabbed me and left me to bleed out while he ran away with his stolen goods. My husband had managed to find me in the nick of time and got me the aid I need…"

Rosia trembled, but steeled herself, continuing.

"There wasn't really anything fatal, so I was able to recover. But, the same couldn't be said for my womb. The knife punctured it, and the doctors weren't able to patch it up in time… After that day, I could never have a child ever again." She would have cried, but she was much more stronger than that. "So that's why me and Astalon were more than happy to accept Kyrie as our daughter. And it helps that she and Pyrrha already know each other."

Jaune smiled, glad that things worked out in the end. He stood up and bid farewell, surprising the mother.

"Don't you want to stay for a while?"

"I'd love to, but I kinda want to see my mom and sisters first. Again, thanks for letting Kyrie stay here, and please tell Pyrrha I said goodbye."

"Will do."

Jaune flashed her a two-finger salute and left without another word. As he walked back to his house, he felt his Scroll vibrate. Smiling, he fished it out and answered the call, already knowing who it was.

"So, did you enjoy the souvenir I got you?"

**"If by souvenir, you mean my new sister, then yeah! Thank you! I've been really wanting to meet Kyrie face-to-face, but you brought her to me instead. It's funny how you two managed to meet each other."**

Jaune grunted in agreement. "Yeah. Almost like it's fate. But that sounds ridiculous. Look, I know how much you've always wanted a sibling. And I just saw the opportunity. She may not show it, but Kyrie's hurting."

**"Yeah, I figured. No need to say it twice, because I'll be there for her. By the way, you couldn't have stayed for a little while longer for some of mom's cookies."**

"Another time." he replied. "I've been a feeling a little homesick. I really want to show something to mom and my sisters. I'll make it up to you tomorrow, okay?"

"How about you do that now instead?"

Jaune turned to his right. His eyes shot up in surprise as he saw Pyrrha leaning against the tree, looking at him with a cheeky grin as she lightly panted. Before anything else could be said, she launched herself into his arms once again for a tender embrace. Jaune said nothing and merely smiled into it.

The two of them stood still and stayed like that for quite a while in silence. The redhead allowed joyful tears to drip down as she further embraced her best friend.

"...thank you." she strained out, her voice filled with so much gratitude.

"Hey, I told you I'd bring you a souvenir. An Arc never goes back on his word. Besides, anything for you, Pyrrha."

She pulled back, her grin coming back full force as an idea got into her head. Before Jaune could react, she planted a swift peck to his cheek, causing the two of them to deeply blush like a pair of tomatoes. Pyrrha giggled and ran back home, waving goodbye to the stunned teen.

Jaune brushed his hand over where he had been kissed, still trying to process what just happened until he eventually smiled stupidly and waved back as he headed home.


	13. Enter Patty Lowell

"Dammit, I'm late!"

Jaune ran through the alleyways, very much in a hurry. He had an irritated look on his face as he berated himself for accidentally sleeping in. He had an important event to attend, and he's practically already missed half of it already. The white-haired teen jumped over the garbage cans that blocked his way, before sliding under an abandoned stepladder. Quickly, he redoubled his efforts and ran even faster.

"I'm starting to get a hint of deja vu here. Man, I hope they won't get mad at me."

Jaune's eyes lightly widened as he saw a lead pipe swinging at him. He ducked under it, before rolling over to avoid being hit by the sledgehammer. He looked up to see a trio of thugs, looking at him with an evil smile and contempt-filled eyes. Not wanting to waste any time, Jaune tried to talk his way out.

"Look, I don't want any trouble."

"Well too bad, pretty boy, 'cause you got it. You stepped in our territory, so you gotta cough up some payment. But from the looks of it, you don't got anything worth much, so how about you turn around and bend over?"

For a moment, Jaune remained silent, his eyes closed. This riled up the supposed leader of the thugs, stepping up to the teen.

"Hey! You hard of hearing, pretty boy? Take. Your pants. O-"

The poor fool didn't even get to finish. Jaune dashed forward and struck with a vicious left hook, breaking the thug's nose and knocked out some of his teeth. The others openly gaped as their leader was sent hurdling towards a couple of garbage cans, burying him in thrash. The Son of Vergil cracked his knuckles, glaring heatedly at the hoodlums.

"Who's next?"

One of the idiots, charged forward, hoping to bash in the teen's brains with his pipe. Jaune merely raised his right hands, and the pipe shattered on contact, making the thug gape in horror. The cambion grunted and backhanded the man, before pulling him in for numerous jabs to the chest before executing a palm thrust to the face, knocking him out.

Jaune jumped back, dodging the heavy swing from the guy who held the sledgehammer. The guy just swung wildly, barely even hitting him. No skills. No finesse. Nothing. Only brute strength. On the next swing, Jaune caught it and threw the thug overhead, slamming him into a wall. Before the guy could even recover, Jaune kicked him into it further, before knocking the wind out of him by punching him in the gut.

The leader seethed in anger, pushing off the thrash and cans on him. He glared at the Arc and pulled out a gun. Before he could even cock it, Jaune snatched it out of his hands and field stripped it, using the parts to whack him around until he lost another tooth. Dropping the gun, Jaune grabbed him by the collar and tossed him back at the pile of thrash.

Dusting his hands and clothes, Jaune quickly hurried to his destination.

* * *

Pyrrha flashed her practiced smile at the numerous people before her, holding out numerous cameras, as she held her newly rewarded trophy high up in the air. On it, engraved, was her name and the words **'CONGRATULATIONS FOUR-TIME CHAMPION"**. When all was said and done, she bowed to the numerous cameras and retreated to waiting rooms as the various reporters tried to get her attention for a quick interview. However, she merely smiled and waved them off.

Once she had reached her room, she closed the door and released a deep sigh, her shoulders sagging in relief.

"Hey, good job out there, sis."

Pyrrha smiled, this time it was actually genuine. She placed down her trophy and walked up to Kyrie to give her a hug. No words were needed. The action spoke for it. The two broke away, a smile still on their faces. Before the older sister could say something, a voice cut in, bringing joy to them both.

"Yeah. You really killed it out there, Pyr."

The Nikos sisters turned around to see Jaune leaning on the wall, a cheeky smirk on his lips. Pyrrha launched herself into his arms, nuzzling into his chest. The white-haired teen chuckled, pulling in the redhead for a tighter embrace.

"Jaune! You came."

"Of course I did. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't attend my girlfriend's last tournament?"

Pyrrha didn't respond and merely smiled even wider as she nuzzled even further into his chest. In the background, Kyrie watched with a small frown, her eyes glinted with jealousy. She quickly wiped it away as soon as the two turned to face her, replacing it with a smile as Jaune approached her for a one-armed hug.

"Hey, Kyrie. How have you been doing?"

The younger Nikos internally cheered, secretly enjoying the Arc's warmth. "I've been doing fine. Don't worry about me, how about you? What have you been up to?"

Jaune broke away and stepped back, allowing him to look at his two friends at full-body. The both of them had grown quite well, but Pyrrha was a bit taller and more muscular. Kyrie had her tail done in a ponytail with a circlet, while Pyrrha had her hair down. Then, well, of course, there was their curves. The sisters had become even more womanly, and drop dead gorgeous. Anyone who said otherwise was a liar.

Before he could say anything, the door opened up and a tall male strode in. He had golden blond hair and azure blue eyes. He had a tall and muscular stature, befitting of a fighter. He wore a classy, red tuxedo, his coattails reaching up to his legs, and matching gloves. The man had a smile on his face as he approached Pyrrha.

"Quite the display you showed us, Ms. Nikos. Thanks to you, many children now aspire to become Huntsmen and Huntresses when they grow up. Once again, congratulation on your victory."

"It was nothing, Mr. Bernstein. It was my pleasure to fight, and I'm glad I'm setting up a good example for the children."

Mr. Bernstein saw Jaune and stepped up to him, stretching out his right hand for a shake. "Ah, so you must be the infamous Jaune Arc that Ms. Nikos has been talking about? A pleasure to meet you, I'm-"

"Rugal Bernstein. I've heard about you, sir. The amount of donations you give out to help the people is staggering. You've been named Richest Man in Remnant too. Not only that, you've quite the resume in the fighting circuits, having participated in quite the number of tournaments. The Combat Philanthropist, they call you. I'm quite the fan, sir."

The teen clasped the man's hand for the handshake, but for some reason, Rugal quickly pulled back, his face contorted into a wince. Jaune was confused, but the man had sent him a reassuring smile, cradling his hand.

"An error on my end. I injured my right hand during training. I had thought that it had recovered, but it looks like it's not the case. Sorry about that."

Jaune shook his head, saying that there was no reason to apologize. The blond man smiled and nodded. He checked his watch and claimed that he had a meeting to attend to. Rugal then bowed to the three and promptly left. Pyrrha smiled and intertwined her hand with her boyfriend's, smiling.

"So, are you ready to-"

The older redhead was cut off as the ringtone from Jaune's Scroll was set off. The white-haired teen pulled out said device and read the message he had received. A frown crossed his lips as he sighed, placing away his Scroll.

"Sorry. Gonna have to take a rain check. Morrison lined me up for a mission with Dante." He turned to face Pyrrha and gave her a chaste peck on the lips. "I'll make it up to you next time, alright? How about you and Kyrie have a day all to yourselves. With your academic work in Sanctum, and her helping out at the local clinic, I'm sure you two haven't gotten the time to hang out."

"Well," Kyrie smiled and slung her arms around her sister's neck. "I think that can be arranged. There's a spa salon just a couple of blocks from here. I think the champion deserves a day of relaxation."

Pyrrha laughed, ruffling her sister's hair. "I wouldn't say no to that."

Jaune waved goodbye to the two and disappeared in a blink of blue light. He dropped down in his room, looking around with a smile. He walked up to the wall and grabbed Blue Rose off of it. He left Red Queen at the shop, he'll pick it up there. Once secured, he calmly strode down the stairs and entered their garage. The Son of Vergil smiled, spotting his motorcycle.

A cruiser, having been gifted to him by his uncle, which was what he had been owed during their job at Fortuna. It was primarily colored blue and black, with some streaks of red. He had to wait until he was sixteen to get it.

He brushed his palm across it, before jumping onto its seat and pressed the ignition. Revving it up for a moment, he opened the garage doors and made sure to take it out of stun before riding off. As he travelled to his uncle's shop, he couldn't help but contemplate at what had happen years ago.

It's been three years since the incident at Fortuna. The Mistralian government happily accepted the Fortuna populace, and most of them had gained a home, though there were still some that didn't. Kyrie had been taken in by Pyrrha's family, and it felt like she was already a part of it for so many years. And, she had also been trained just enough on how to fight and use her aura, courtesy of Astalon and Pyrrha.

About two years ago, Pyrrha and Jaune started dating, to figure out if their feelings stretched beyond being best friends. The kiss had made them question their relationship. However, things worked out and they became a couple. Everyone was happy for them. Well, almost everyone.

Noir had been promoted from Specialist to Colonel, and was currently off-tour, using the time to spend at home and help out Jeanne. Sol and Luna were now full-fledged Huntresses and had gained the moniker of "Eclipsing Beauties". Although, there were times when Sol would struck out on her own as a freelancer, while Luna had decided to help out in the Devil May Cry business. Saphron moved out and got married to her partner, Terra Cotta, and had become an accomplished writer, having also helped write the popular novel, "Ninjas of Love".

Jeanne was happy that Yamato had been recovered, and decided to properly teach Jaune on how to wield the katana, since no one else could, besides Noir and probably Dante. This helped him perfect his father's techniques imparted from the sword and gained a style of his own as to not keep on imitating Vergil's.

Ren and Nora had fully recovered from their trauma, and had lent their aid in demon hunting. Speaking of demons, they had become much more apparent than the last time, and business was booming for Devil May Cry. Dante had made the decision of adding more to the shop's repertoire: exorcism, detective agency, body guarding, treasuring hunting, Grimm hunting and etc.

"_Never thought that in a million years that this would be my life."_

Pressing the breaks, Jaune drifted the bike and skidded to a halt, stopping right in front of the Devil May Cry shop. He parked it up at the side and pushed open the doors. He spotted Dante st his desk, reading some sort of Playboy magazine with his feet propped up.

Jaune made himself comfortable on the couch and brought out his headphones to listen to some of his tunes. He put it on shuffle, and it immediately played 'Holding Out For A Hero'.

A few minutes later, the door opened up, revealing Morrison, followed by a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing some baggy clothing and a big pink hat. The kid immediately got curious at everything in the shop and started looking around. Morrison took off his coat and jacket, hanging them up.

"Ah, good. You two are here. Listen, I got a job for ya."

Dante looked up from his magazine for a split second and made a decision. He slammed down his foot onto his desk, sending his telephone into the air. He caught it and dialed his favorite pizza place.

"Hey, it's me. I'll have the usual. Yeah. No olives, and make it an extra large, would ya? Oh, and don't forget the garlic bread and drinks. That's all, I'll drop by to pick it up later."

He hung up, giving Morrison the opportunity to speak.

"Are you listening to me, Dante?"

"I usually take the usual odd jobs here and there, I don't have time to babysit some brat."

The little girl looked at the hunter, offended. "Brat?"

Dante placed down his magazine and started walking up to his pool table. Jaune sighed from his position and slowly sat up, taking off his headphones.

"Don't mind him. He probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed. So, what's with the little girl, Morrison?"

The info broker sat down next to him, a can of beer in hand, taken directly from Dante's fridge. "She's not just any little girl, kid. She's Patty Lowell, a Cinderella girl who's heiress to the Lowell family fortune."

"Sure doesn't look like it." commented Dante from the pool table as he struck the cue ball.

"Well, that's because she's been living as an orphan just downtown from here." Morrison responded, taking a sip of the beer.

Jaune looked intrigued, and turned to Patty. From what he could see, she seemed carefree, not at all bothered by her lack of parents... And at such a young age? He could have probably taken a few notes from her, considering he was still a bit hung up on Vergil's disappearance.

At this point, Patty noticed his staring and walked up in front of him in curiosity. "Is there something wrong?"

This snapped Jaune out of his musing, making him look down and hide his thoughts with a smirk.

"Nah, just trying to see if I was right about something. Anyways, carry on, Morrison."

The dapper man took another sip from his beer and gave them the details of the job.

"The head of the Lowell family passed away about a week ago. When his will was read, the existence of an illegitimate child came to life. And the lucky one, is standing right with us. Anyways, it's been requested that you two escort Ms. Patty to the Lowell mansion by 6PM tomorrow. Think you can handle that?"

Dante hummed as he shot another ball into the hole. "That's it?"

"Well, there is the off-chance that some resentful family members would hire unwanted party crashes to make sure she doesn't arrive. But who can say?"

Dante hummed in thought, weighing his options before settling on having his nephew decide. "Your call, kid. You wanna do it or not?"

Jaune smirked as he stood up, crossing his arms. "Do you even need to ask?"

"Figured you say that."

Dante grabbed his coat and put it on the most dramatic way possible. He walked up to the door, Patty following suit. As the three of them were about to exit, Morrison stopped them, holding two guitar cases, one with a red stripe and the other with the Arc's insignia.

"Hey, you two. You forgot something. The both of you have a show to play, right?"

"A show?" parroted Jaune.

Dante nodded, getting the implication, and took the guitar cases, handing the other to Jaune. With his business done, Morrison made his exit. "Just remember, I'm counting on you."

The three of them watched as he got into his car and drove off into the distance. Patty looked at the two and asked a question. "So, how are we gonna get there?"

Dante smirked. He pulled out a keychain and pressed the button. In a matter of seconds, a crimson sports car came halting to a stop in front of them. With his debt cleared, and him being forced to clean up his act, Dante actually managed to get some money to spend on solely for himself. And the first thing he bought was said car.

Patty looked at the vehicle in awe and walked up to it. "Woah. It's so cool." But then she realized something. "Wait. There's three of us, and only two seats in the car. So, how are we-" Patty's head shot up, hearing the sound of an engine revving. She turned around and saw Jaune on his motorcycle, having put on a pair of goggles and a helmet.

"Don't worry. I'll follow you guys on my bike."

Dante opened up the door and gestured towards the seat, speaking in a faux servient tone. "Your chariot awaits, milady."

Patty smiled and entered the car, Dante following. He ignited its engine and immediately took off. Jaune shook his head and quickly followed his uncle.

* * *

On the road, Dante nibbled on a slice of pizza, while expertly maneuvering the car with just one hand. Patty idly watched the beautiful scenery they passed by, eating some pizza as well. Trailing behind them, Jaune made sure not to full throttle, or else he'd zoom pass them.

"I could come and see your guy's show. I mean, there must not be that much people who'd see you, right? Well, maybe your nephew. He is pretty cute."

"Sorry, Patty!" shouted Jaune, riding right beside them. "Our shows are for adults only."

Dante nodded. He grabbed a slice of pizza and smirked at his nephew. "Hey, kid. Catch!"

The devil hunter tossed the pizza into the air. Jaune lightly pressed the breaks, slowing himself down to align himself with the descending slice. He bit into it, just as it fell, making him smirk in victory. Dante laughed in amusement, and continued driving. He idly listened to Patty ramble on more about their supposed show, until he felt something talk to him from afar.

"**_Dante… This girl's life is ours. Leave her to us."_**

The Son of Sparda saw his nephew send a quick glance to him, confirming that he just received the same message. Patty took notice that he wasn't listening and asked him what was wrong, only for Dante to pull her head down, covering her eyes. Jaune took that as a signal and went ahead of them, seeing a truck approach them.

On the side of it container, a demon crawled out, hissing menacingly. He revved up to to full throttle and went to the side of the truck. The Son of Vergil swung his arm around, as it glowed brightly. The demon tried to attack him, only to find itself sliced up to pieces, falling down onto the road.

By now, Patty had managed to pull off her hat, glaring heatedly at Dante. "What the heck was that all about?!"

The half-devil remained silent, instead sending a discrete nod at Jaune. The Unholy Hybrid caught the message and zoomed off, leaving the two in the dust.

* * *

Unfortunately for Dante, they had to travel the rest of the way via train, because the road was blocked because of some accident. He promptly got himself and Patty some train tickets and quickly boarded one. They sat at one of the less crowded cabins, which Dante had suggested.

The cambion lounged on his side, eyes closed. He glanced at Patty, who was looking at her locket. Seeing the opportunity to tease her, he seized it.

"You've been staring at that picture for a long time. Who is it, your boyfriend?"

Naturally, the young girl was offended and showed him the locket, which had a woman who looked like her, yet more older and mature.

"No, it's my mom, you half-wit! And she's a lot prettier than that woman on your desk!" Her mood then grew somber, looking back at the picture sadly. "But, I don't remember anything about her. She got sick and died when I was just a baby. At least, that's what hospital director said. So, I never even got the chance to meet her. The only thing I have, is this picture of her…"

Dante looked guilty for his earlier teasing and avoided from making eye contact. He found it strange… She and Jaune had that in common. Never actually meeting a parent of theirs. He sat up. A demon was nearby. A man in a suit walked up to them, holding a large suitcase.

"Hey, you don't mind if I seat here, do you?"

Dante was about to retort how there were many open seats, but found his guitar case thrown at his stomach, courtesy of Patty. The young girl gestured to the now empty space, allowing for the man to sit down. He took off his hat, thanking her.

"Hope I'm not bothering you two."

The half-blood grunted, closing his eyes. "You're not bothering me, but I can't promise that you'll live long."

The man looked a bit horrified at that statement, while Patty reacted more verbally, as they passed through the tunnel. "And what is that supposed to mean? I mean, really? Why would anyone need some promise like that, just because they sa-"

Patty opened her eyes, watching as the man fell down with wide eyes, blood gushing out of his mouth. Dante sighed, shaking his head.

"You should have heeded my warning, pal."

Patty screamed in terror, pulling down her hat to cover her eyes. Dante picked her up gently and placed her at one of the empty seats, away from the man's corpse. He patted her on the back, silently telling her that it was alright. Meanwhile, the rest of the passengers walked up to the body. The woman ran up to one of the cabins in hopes of finding a conductor.

With Patty pacified, Dante went back to his original seat. The woman came back with the conductor, showing him the dead body.

"Geez. The hell happened?" He looked at Dante, demanding some answers from him.

The devil hunter shrugged, obliging the man. "Sure. I can give you the rundown. For the ten seconds or so that this train was in the tunnel, there were six people in this car - the old man, that couple, me and the little girl, and our dead friend here. The old man didn't do it. And those two were making out in the dark, so that rules them out. As for the kid, be honest. What makes you think she can do it?"

"So, that only leaves you then?"

Dante shook his head. "Nope. There's one more person… Or to be more precise, one more thing."

As if sensing it, the others turned around to where Patty was and saw a large, grotesque face staring down on the little girl. Patty looked up in surprise, but couldn't further react as the train went through another tunnel. Gunshots rang across the entire car, shooting the side then the ceiling.

When the train got back to the light, Patty blinked, noticing that there was nothing at the window anymore. The others turned back to the dead man, and saw that it was no longer human, and that it had something sticking out of its body and out into the window. The thing twitched and growled, but was promptly silenced with a shot to the head.

With the demon dealt with, Dante picked up his guitar case and motioned for Patty to follow him as the train stopped to their destination. Dante stopped for a second and turned to back to the other occupants.

"By the way, I'd recommend not reporting this to the authorities. This goes way pass their pay grade. If any of you ever encounter something like this again, gives us a call."

He tossed a calling card to the couple and went back to walking. Patty was silent, clearly disturbed by what had just transpired. She stuck close to Dante, as the two of them left the station.

"That man… He was killed by a demon, wasn't he? C-could a demon be hunting me too?! But why? I did nothing wrong!"

Dante looked down on her, and flashed her an assuring smile. "Why do you think I'm here, Patty? Don't worry over it too much." He looked up, taking notice of the darkening sky. "It's getting late. We should probably check in at a motel, or something."

"But, what about Jaune?"

"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine."

* * *

"Welcome."

The two of them were greeted by a man hunched over with disfigured teeth and elfish ears. Dante crossed his arms and requested a room. The receptionist nodded, giving them the key. As Dante was about to drag Patty off to their room, a poster got her attention. It was of some sort of performance tonight that featured a blonde woman…who looked eerily like her mother.

"Mister! The woman in the poster, where can I go and meet her?"

Before the receptionist could respond, Dante picked her up and dragged her off. "Don't be ridiculous. I thought your mother died? Whoever that was, it's probably just a coincidence. Come on, let's get to sleep."

Dante opened up their room, and sighed. He plopped down onto the couch, giving Patty the bed.

"I didn't tell you the truth…"

Dante quirked an eyebrow, wondering what Patty was on about.

"My mom didn't actually die. She disappeared. I happened to overhear the hospital director talking about it. They said that something was chasing her down, and she didn't want me, a baby to be in danger so she placed me in the orphanage. So maybe, just maybe, that woman is actually my mother! I don't care about the fortune, or about my inheritance… I just want to be with my mother."

The Son of Sparda processed her words. He couldn't fault her for trying to be optimistic. But if the implications of what she heard were true, then she was in for a letdown.

"I wouldn't get my hopes, kid. I hate to say it, but your mom is probably gone by now. Come on, let's get some shut eye."

Shutting off the lamp, he went back to the couch and plopped down, falling into slumber. Patty frowned and placed her hat over the bed post, going into the covers.

* * *

Dante's eyes shot open. His gaze fell onto the bed and immediately took notice that Patty was missing. He got off the couch and ran to the reception area.

"Hey, where the hell's my daughter?"

The receptionist looked up, confusion written all over his face. "Daughter? I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

Turning to the poster, Dante unloaded all over it. Both as an intimidation tactic, and to actually kill it. The poster shifted into a large, butterfly, which promptly fell down, dead. The Legendary Devil Hunter grunted in annoyance. He quirked an eyebrow, feeling a gun being pointed at his back.

The receptionist chuckled, looking smug. "You should know that I know all about you."

"Yeah? Then you know that thing won't be enough to even hurt me. So, where's Patty?" He turned around, giving the man a scathing glare that made him piss his pants.

* * *

Jaune roamed the seemingly ghost town, looking around for somewhere to rest. He had went ahead and dealt with the demons that were on their way towards Dante and Patty, giving them some time to make it to their destination without any hassle.

He blinked in confusion, seeing his uncle being led by a ghoul-looking man into the opera house.

"Huh? What's Dante doing here? Shouldn't he and Patty be sleeping right now." And then he realized. "Wait, where's Patty?"

Inside of the opera house, Patty was wandering around, until she managed to find the main stage. There, she saw the woman in the poster, performing with a spotlight under her. The young girl lit up, happy that she was right.

"Mommy!" Patty ran down the stairs in a hurry, desperate to really see her mother. She jumped up the stage and into her mother's arms. "Oh, mommy! I wanted to see you so badly for so long!"

That's when she noticed something was off. Patty looked up and saw the face of a twisted demon instead of her demon. One of the stage's backdrop dropped down, containing numerous demons that had been lying in wait. The young girl shrieked in fear and closed her eyes, as the demons went in for the kill.

However, before they could even touch her, bullets flew across and shot them, causing another of the backdrops to fall down. She looked up and smiled in relief to see Dante walk down the stairs, the spotlight now shining on him.

"Hey, you don't really delay an opera like that, right? Doesn't really matter. It looks like we're gonna have to wait for that touching finale."

From behind, the demons had recovered from the attack and lunged at the little girl. Dante quickly jumped into the action and kicked them all away from Patty. Spinning around, he shot at the curtain, causing it to fall down.

"Sorry, Patty. But this show isn't for kids."

It completely covered Dante, only showing his shadow, allowing him to deal with the demons at his pleasure, without having to further traumatize Patty. She could only watch in awe as the demons cried in agony, being easily dispatched by the devil hunter. The receptionist from earlier crept out of the shadows, clasping Patty by the shoulders.

"I'm so sorry, Miss. But I'm afraid it is now time for you to die, because I was promised I'd be greatly rewarded by my masters if I killed you, if the others failed to do so."

Laughing maniacally, he prepared to deal with the little girl. However, he did not anticipate a burning blade to pierce his chest. The demon gaped in horror, as he felt his life fade. Before Patty could look, her eyes were covered, courtesy of a gloved hand.

"You heard, Dante. Can't show this to you, Pats."

Jaune threw off his coat and covered it over Patty to prevent her from seeing what he was about to do. The Son of Vergil grunted and tossed the demon up into the air. Revving up Red Queen, he sliced the receptionist in two, the Exceed burning away his halves. He screamed in complete pain as he slowly turned to ash. By the time Patty had gotten off the teen's coat, all of the demons were dead.

* * *

The next day, at the Lowell family mansion, the brothers of the rich tycoon patiently waited for Patty to arrive. However, the clock had struck six, making one of them smirk and exhale his cigarette smoke.

"Time's up."

"Brother, we did it! The fortune is ours!" cheered out one of the brothers, moving to tear the letter. "This letter was nothing but a bunch of nonsense."

But before he could do so, the family butler announced that they had a guest. In came a young, mature woman that had blonde hair, green eyes and quite the figure. The brother at the figure didn't bother to turn and instead asked who she was.

"Oh my, that's not funny. Nice to meet you, I'm Patty Lowell."

The reactions of the brothers ranged from shouts of disbelief, calm skepticism, and outright trying to call on her claims.

"But she's just a child!"

The older Patty shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that child is nothing more than a fake. I took every situation into account. Luckily for me, I managed to find a girl with the same name quite quickly. I had it arranged so that all of the media attention would be directed at her, so that my trip here would go so smoothly."

Two of the brothers angrily growled, pissed that they had been tricked. While the other remained calm.

"Now then, why don't we hurry and deal with the formalities?"

The brother at the window laughed, scrunching up his cigarette. "I'm sorry, but your claims have become void, Ms. Patty Lowell. Your rights to the inheritance have been renounced since you've missed the deadline. 6 PM. Even if it's just by a millisecond, you are aware you missed it, right?"

"Funny you should mention that. In his will, it said within one week of his death. And I'm quite sure my dad died at 6:27 PM. So, my rights are still valid. Will a driver's license suffice for identification?"

"No." assured the brother. "That'll be no longer necessary." He took off his glasses and turned to the woman, his face contorting into that of a demon. **"Because Patty Lowell's existence will never be confirmed. And neither will the rest of you!"**

"Brother! What's happened to you?!" exclaimed one of them in complete fear and worry.

The demon fully manifested, easily towering the humans inside of the room. He roared at the brothers and smacked them into the fireplace, heavily injuring them. Then, he set his sights on Patty and lunged. The actual heir closed her eyes at her imminent death, but it never came. She opened them and saw Jaune standing over her, holding back the demon with one arm.

"So," the teen started. "you're the one who hired us to look over Patty. I'll admit, you're pretty… Pretty detestable, that is."

The Son of Vergil tightly gripped the horned demon's head and threw it back, causing it to stumble. He glanced at his uncle, who leaned against the door, with Patty trying to watch at what was happening.

"Sorry, Uncle D. But this guy's mine!"

Jaune jumped back, dodging the monster's swings. A bright light covered over his arms and legs, before disappearing and showing that he had equipped Beowulf. He curled around his fingers before throwing out a punch that pushed back the demon, surprising everyone, apart from Dante. Jaune dashed forward and struck the demon twice, before spinning around and kicked him viciously. Every attack emitted light, further injuring the demon.

"**Y-You! You will pay for this!"**

The horned demon roared and tried to lunge at Jaune, but instead found his head torn off with a swift uppercut. Finishing things off, Jaune launched him into the air with two rising crescent kicks, slamming him into the ceiling. As the corpse began to fall down, the Son of Vergil charged up Beowulf and released a powerful uppercut that obliterated the demon, its body parts flying around and gushing out blood that covered the room, barring Jaune, who was unscathed.

With their business done, the two devil hunters walked away, with Patty trailing behind them.

"I saw it all - the adult only part!"

"Wait!"

The three of them turned around to see the older Patty, looking quite overcome with guilt and remorse.

"Please, wait. That child, please let me take care of her. I want to make amends for the things that I did."

Dante and Jaune glanced at each other, before looking at Patty, silently asking her what would be her response.

* * *

The next day, Jaune was on his way back home on his motorcycle. Dante had opted to go back to the train station to pick up his car. However, the white-haired Arc was not alone. Sitting on the back, her arms wrapped around his chest tightly, was Patty.

"You really sure about this, Pat? The lady looked like she was really sorry."

"It doesn't really matter! Sure, it'd be nice to live in a mansion like that, but I'm pretty sure that that she'd only treat me like an obligation. And I don't want that. All I ever want is family… And besides, you offered!"

Jaune grunted. He pulled the brakes, and parked it right up front. Patty got off, staring at the Arc Family house in awe. Jaune chuckled at her reaction and urged her to come inside. The Arc Devil flipped open the lights and placed his coat on the hanger. Before he could say anything else, Fenris rushed down the steps and launched himself into Jaune's arms, barraging him with numerous licks to the face.

The Son of Vergil laughed at this, trying to calm down his pet. "Okay okay, calm down, boy. Calm down. Sit."

The wolf got off of his master and sat down, showing just much he grew. From the little pup he was, he grew about the size of a dire wolf, but he barely changed at all in terms of personality. Fenris then noticed Patty, and titled his head cutely in curiosity.

"Fenris, this is Patty. Why don't you go say hi, Pats? Don't worry, he won't bite."

The young girl tentatively approached the Arc Family's pet with a shaky hand. The black wolf didn't react, until he took the initiative and licked her palm, which made her giggle. Patty smiled and rubbed Fenris's head, who showed his appreciation by nuzzling her.

Jaune smiled, happy that they were getting along. As he was about to call out to his mother, Jeanne stepped out of the kitchen.

"Ah! Jaune, welcome home."

The Arc Matriarch's gaze fell onto Patty, who hid behind Jaune, feeling shy all of a sudden. A gentle smile crossed the nephilim's lips as a comforting aura exuded out of her. She knelt down, looking at the young girl eye-to-eye.

"You must be Patty."

Instead of responding verbally, a meek nod was all she could muster, making Jeanne lightly laugh in amusement.

"There's nothing to worry about, dear. I already talked it over with the orphanage. You can stay with us for as long as you'd like. If you want, we can be your family."

This time, Patty had stopped hiding behind Jaune and all of a sudden, jumped into the mother's arms, sobbing as she repeatedly thanked her. Jeanne merely patted her head and picked her up, to carry her to her new room. As Jaune was about to go to the kitchen for a snack, his eyes glanced over to his mother, gently rubbing Patty's back, who had fallen asleep with a peaceful smile on her face. Jaune couldn't help but smile as well, happy to have granted the little girl her wish. He whistled out to Fenris, who quickly followed his master, to give him a treat.

* * *

**In an undisclosed location**

Four figures sat in an empty room, surrounding a round table that held numerous sort of cryptic symbols. The figures could not be seen, their appearances completely covered by the shadows. Only their eyes could be seen, designated by their color. One had icy-white eyes, complimented by thick-framed glasses. The other had yellow eyes. One had cat-like, dark purple eyes. And the last had blood-red eyes.

Purple spoke in a feminine and somewhat sultry voice. "Some of the others aren't here…"

"It's of no matter. They're currently handling other tasks." responded Red. "But now, back to the matter at hand. Report!"

Yellow sighed in disappointment. "It would seem that Sid and my other summons have failed in retrieving the girl. They have all perished at the hands of Dante and Jaune."

Blue grumbled, not really listening, and was more concerned on something. "Hit or miss. I guess they never miss, huh? I totally get that. Hit or miss. It's either you can hit, or you can miss." He slammed down his hands on the table, now completely livid. "But what the fuck does the never miss part even mean?! How can it be hit or miss if you never miss?! Seriously, that shit pisses me off!"

"Calm yourself, Glassare. It's just a metaphor. You shouldn't take it too literally." spoke out Yellow.

"Well fuck that, Spettro! See, this is another reason to hate humans and Faunus! Why do they have to be so cryptic, instead of going straight to the point?!"

Red made one glance at the blue-eyed man, and he immediately mumbled an apology out of fear. The imposing man crossed his arms and focused. "Going back to the matter at hand, it seems we need to first take care of her protectors before we can move on to the girl."

Spettro stood up and volunteered. "I'll go. My summons failed, but perhaps my more stronger familiars can deal with them."

"In that case, I'll join you." voiced Glassare. "I've been meaning to get some action, anyway. That, and to find the damned thrash I lost."

Purple looked at her comrade, her eyes mocking him. "Ah right. With all your power, you somehow managed to lose a Lobo pup."

Before Glassare could explode in anger, Red intervened.

"Vice. Silence." When she didn't speak, he continued and faced Spettro and Glassare. "The two of you better succeed, and I suppose I don't need remind you of the price for failure?"

The two froze up and immediately ran out. Vice got off her seat, deciding to exit as well. "I'll inform the others then, and make sure we have a back up plan in case those idiots fail."

Red leaned into his seat, a smirk settling on his lips as he was now alone. "It won't be long now. Our Lord, Orochi will descend to this world and wipe the plague of this world!" The man began to laugh, which reverberated throughout the entire chamber.

* * *

**We are now officially in the TAS territory...except it's not? If any of you had watched the TAS, Sid was the main and final enemy that Dante had to deal with. But here, he was killed by Jaune before he could do any of his shit, so what now? Well, if y'all know some KoF lore, you'll know what MIGHT be coming. But, I ain't saying anything more than that. You guys have to wait for the next chapters to come :P**

**As always, review down below if you've any questions.**


	14. The First of Many

A rain of bullets burst out of the abandoned church's wall, causing the wall to crumble down and reveal a large demon, completely riddled with holes. Its head was blown clean off, causing it to fall down , revealing Lady to be the assailant. She drew out Kalinna Ann and jumped through the newly formed hole. Aiming at it, she fired off numerous rockets that blew up on the tree-like demons that tried to escape.

The female devil hunter looked up to see a large, purple, dog-like demon with no eyes. Its jaws glowed and opened up to chomp down on her. But before it could attack, a bolt of lightning struck it on the side, electrocuting and killing it. Lady looked up to see Trish sitting on the railings, a smirk on her face. More of the dog demons appeared, surrounding Lad. The blonde demon jumped down and kicked down one of them, before drawing out her own guns.

Back to back, the two ladies started firing off on the pack of demons that came at them. Lady and Trish ducked under, dodging the demon's bite, which erased a portion of the wall behind them. Gathering up her electricity, Trish spun around and released numerous bolts that pushed back the dogs. Quickly capitalizing on the situation, Lady grabbed a hold of rocket launcher once again and fired off a wide spread of missiles, blowing up the entire pack of dog demons.

Once they made sure that there were no more, Lady and Trish met back at the building.

"Thanks for helping me out." Lady started. "I appreciate it."

The femme fatale shrugged, not at all minding. "No worries. I quite enjoy this little nights where we hang out. It's fun."

Based on the smile on her face, Lady agreed. As they were about to embark on their motorcycles, tentacles sprouted out of the ground, taking them by surprise. Lady used the bayonet on Kalinna An,, using it to cut up any tendril that came her way, while Trish burnt them with her lightning. However, unaware to them, two more of those dog demons stalked up from behind and bit down on their limbs. The arm for Trish, and a leg for Lady.

Both devil hunters managed to pry them off and quickly killed them with one shot in the head. While Trish flexed her arm as it healed, Lady winced and limped up her to ride, clutching her bleeding leg. Luckily for her, her Aura got to work and started patching it up as she sat on her motorcycle.

"Thank whatever god is up there for Aura. Honestly, it got easier when I got it. Seriously, you and Dante should try getting yours unlocked."

Trish smiled, but shook her head. "No thanks. Don't really need it. My demon powers are enough. Although, perks of having a Semblance is a bit tempting. We'll see."

The two ladies got onto their rides and headed off to collect their payment. Unbeknownst to them, a tall, lanky man had been watching the entire thing from the very beginning. Not much could be seen from him, aside from the fact that this entire body was clothed. A black steampunk trench coat that tightly wrapped around his body, numerous belts all across both of his forearms. He wore white gloves, simple black slacks and a pair of boots. He had purple hair, tucked into his fedora. His yellow eyes scanned through the battlefield, until it fell onto the two small puddles of blood.

The man grinned wickedly and walked up to the two sources of red liquid. He knelt down and pulled out two small bottles with some sort of liquid and some cotton swabs. He dabbed them onto the two blood puddles and mixed into the liquid. A ring interrupted him, making him grunt, already knowing who was calling. He pulled out his earpiece and placed it on his right ear, clicking it.

"Speak, my friend. What's the matter?"

"_**The boss man wants an update from you, Spettro. What have you got so far?"**_calmly asked Glassare.

Spettro smiled, even if it was unseen by his comrade. "What summons I had left did their job. They managed to wound two of those pesky devil hunters from Dante's organizations. I've already obtained numerous fresh samples."

"_**Oh really? Who are they?"**_

A glint of something truly wicked appeared in the man's eyes… Something perverted. He licked his lips and smirked as he triumphantly held the bottles into the moon's light.

"The beautiful hunters, Lady and Trish. They'll make fine additions to my collection!"

"_**Of course. You'd like that, wouldn't you? Well, they are beautiful, but dear Orochi, Spettro. Restrain yourself, man. Mission first, remember."**_

Spettro rolled his eyes. He stood up and tucked away his samples. "Of course, of course. I know that. By the way, where are you, Glassare? I thought you would be accompanying for this mission?"

"_**Went on a detour. Boss man wanted to make sure that all of us were in top condition when we face off against these devil hunting bastards. You should come back to base for a power surge too."**_

"I've no need of it." assured the yellow-eyed follower of Orochi. "After all, I won't be fighting them directly, so that power surge will be useless for me. I just need to find some strong enough hosts for my familiar to be anchored into the mortal realm."

Glassare went quiet for a moment, before responding. _**"Heh. Your call. Once you've located them, I'll head over your way and give you some back up."**_

Spettro smiled, saying how it would be appreciative. He hung up and walked into the shadows and seemingly faded away into obscurity.

* * *

**The Next Day - Arc Household**

Patty's eyes fluttered open, looking around in confusion. The room she was in was far more wider than what her room was supposed to be. What's more, it was quite decorated, not at all spartan, to look much more comfortable. Plus, there was a window that overlooked the front yard.

That's right. She wasn't at the orphanage anymore. She was taken in by Jaune and his family. She was no longer alone. Patty rubbed her eyes, trying to fight off the drowsiness, but a yawn had escaped her lips.

"So, you must be Patty."

Said little girl looked up to see Noir leaning against the door, gazing at her with a friendly, and warm smile. The older blonde woman gestured and introduced herself.

"I'm Noir, Jaune's big sister. Well, his first one. Sorry I wasn't there to meet you yesterday. Was busy with something."

Patty smiled back, and shook her head. "It's fine. To be honest, I, was kind of scared of meeting everyone else… "

Noir sat down beside her, ruffling her hair affectionately and to ease her worries. "Well, there's nothing to be afraid of, squirt. All of my sisters are friendly. I'm almost positive that they'll like you." She stood and picked Patty up, placing her on her shoulders. "Now come on! Mom made us some waffles and scrambled eggs."

The two blondes walked into the dining room and saw Jaune was already at the table, munching on some syrup-coated waffles, with a side of hash browns and bacon, and some orange juice. The white-haired teen swallowed and waved at the two.

"Morning, guys."

The eldest Arc daughter nodded back in greeting and placed down Patty on the chair, before sitting down herself. Just in time, Jeanne came back with a fresh batch of waffles and homemade syrup. She settled it down in the middle and placed a couple on Patty's plate, before drizzling it with the syrup. The Arc Matriarch smiled down on her.

"Go on. Dig in."

Patty gingerly picked up her knife and fork, piercing into the crispy yet fluffy waffle, and took a bite. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, the flavors in her tongue dancing around. Once she recovered, she started scarfing down on her plate, making the others laugh,

"Yeah, that's the reaction that we were hoping for." admitted Noir, unable to wipe away her large grin. "Mom cooks like her food was blessed from the heavens itself, so enjoy it, because that's what you'll be eating from now on."

Patty had no complaints, continuing to devour her breakfast. Jeanne turned to her two present children, and asked them what their plans were for today. Jaune put down his glass and answered.

"Well, I promised Pyrrha and Kyrie I'd be hanging out with them, because I had to cancel on the other day."

The nephilim nodded, and turned to her eldest. "What about you, Noir? Got anything to do?"

"Mmm!" she nodded and wrapped an arm around Patty, clasping her shoulder. "I think I want to get to know my new little sister a bit better. Heard there's a new Sanrio shop at Mistral City, and-"

"You collect Sanrio plushies too?!" exclaimed Patty in surprise.

Noir shrugged, smiling a bit. "I may be in the military, but a girl's gotta have a hobby when she's off-duty. We'll leave by ten. But first, let's eat up!"

Again, Patty had no complaints on that.

* * *

At the Argus Limited train station, Patty sat on the waiting benches, patiently waiting for Noir to come back with their tickets. The blonde fiddled with her sister's Scroll, watching a video from DustTube on it.

"Mind if we take a seat?"

Patty looked up to see Lady and Trish seating on both sides. The little girl looked down shyly, making the two hunters smirk in amusement.

"So, you must be the Patty that Dante talked about yesterday." Lady said.

At the mention of the half-devil's name, Patty perked up and nodded. She looked at the two pretty ladies, then made an assumption.

"Are you two his girlfriends?"

The both of them had different reactions. Trish fell back and started laughing quite loudly, attracting quite a bit of attention. While Lady looked away, a hue of red coating her cheeks. Recovering, Trish snorted and shook her head in amusement.

"Sorry, but no. I only see him as a friend. As for Lady here-"

"I'm…his ex. But, we're still friends." Wanting to steer away the conversation from becoming more awkward, Lady changed topics. "So, what brings you here, all alone?"

As Patty was about to respond, Noir came back, with the tickets in-hand. She was pleasantly surprised to see the two Devil May Cry hunters at the train station.

"Lady and Trish? No offense, but what are you two doing here? I thought you guys had motorcycles for transport?"

Trish nodded in conformation. "We do, but the road to our destination was said to be under maintenance, so we decided to travel by train to get to our stop. Plus, it's faster."

Noir could agree on that. A train was the fastest mode of land transportation all around the world. Luckily, they didn't have to wait long and the train had finally arrived. The four ladies stood up and went to board the train.

Unbeknownst to them, Spettro had been watching them from a safe distance with a devious smirk. _"Interesting. It would seem Patty is with them as well. This will make things a lot more easier than anticipated."_ He flashed the conductor his ticket and entered the train as it departed.

* * *

Inside of his cabin, Spettro nursed a glass of wine, typing into a laptop that seemed to be normal, but was more than meets the eye. Taking one more sip, he decided to get serious. Plugging in a flash drive, the follower of Orochi began to input numerous commands at an alarming speed, numerous programs and codes popping up, until finally, one more window popped with the words, **"INSERT SAMPLE" **flashing on the screen.

A hole appeared on the side of the laptop, allowing Spettro to insert the small bottles that contained Trish's and Lady's life blood. Once it was process and analyzed, three separate programs opened up with the icons of a child, a snake and an ape, making the yellow-eyed man smile widely.

"Bellissimo! Molto bene!" he started typing into the laptop, communicating with his familiars. "How have you all been? Feeling well rested? Are any of you up for a little hunt?"

Being inside of the computer, of course, his familiars couldn't speak properly, and instead typed out their thoughts… Well, only the child-like entity did.

"_Yes, we are, father. Awaiting to acquire new host bodies to roam around."_

"Then what are you all waiting for?" he asked with a grin.

Pressing a button, a stream of ones and zeroes were released from the ports of the laptop and scattered out to find someone to infect. The child stumbled upon a buxom beauty, all alone in her cabin, sleeping with her mouth wide open. It poured itself into her orifice, making her body as its own. The snake found a kind guy talking to his friend over the phone, and chocked the life out of him, before converting him into its host. The ape headed for train's control room, with the conductor inside. Without it noticing, the familiar killed the conductor and consumed his body to craft his own.

Seeing their progress on his laptop, Spettro typed out his joy to his wonderful familiars. "Di molto! Now, pay attention you three. I have something to teach you all." He pulled out pictures of the Devil May Cry crew and flashed them to the webcam. "These are your primary targets - Lady and Trish. Eliminate them by any means necessary, but do your best not to harm their bodies…much. Now, these are the rest - Dante and Jaune. Both of them are of Sparda, so do not directly confront them if they are to ever appear. And finally, Patty Lowell. No harm must come to her, ever. We need her back in one piece, got it?"

"_Crystal, father. Awaiting further instructions before we proceed."_

"Di molto! Strength, keep the train running. On my signal, you may stop and hunt. Solidus, search for the targets, but don't attack just yet. And as for you, Scatter, go outside, and deal with any pesky Grimm that will interrupt this ride. Be safe, my darlings."

* * *

Patty looked in awe as the train passed by the snow-covered terrain. Noir couldn't help but smirk at the reaction. Lady and Trish were just about two cabins away from them, the former stayed while the latter roamed around. A little yawn escaped the military girl's lips, starting to get a bit drowsy.

"Hey, Noir. I'm gonna go out for a bit. I, uh, need to pee."

"Want me to come with you?" asked Noir, a bit apprehensive. Jaune told her how demons tried to kill her on their way to the Lowell mansion. Who's to say they were gonna stop? That, and after what happened to Nera, she didn't want to take any chances.

The little girl shook her head. "No. I'm just letting you know. Besides, the comfort room's just near Lady and Trish's cabin."

The Arc Colonel smiled at her little sister and playfully ruffled her hair, telling her to be careful. As Patty left, Noir slipped into a much more comfortable position, and let the spell of slumber overtake her. Patty hummed cheerfully as she walked up to the comfort room. On her way there, she passed by the dining car and saw the two female devil hunters having a bite.

"Hi, you two!"

Lady and Trish smiled and waved in greeting to the blonde. "Hey, Patty. Where's Noir? You can join us for lunch." offered Lady.

Patty shook her head, declining the offer. "Sorry. We're still a bit full from our breakfast earlier, that, and big sis is taking a nap right now. Maybe later. I really need to pee."

"Ah. Well, if you want something, you know where to find us." reminded Trish.

She nodded and went back to walking towards her destination, until she bumped into someone. Quickly picking herself up, Patty apologized and rushed to the comfort room. Solidus watched the little girl as she entered into the room. He looked back, where Lady and Trish chatted as they bit into their food. The snake familiar smirked maniacally, before quickly covering it up and sitting down at the unoccupied table, to keep a closer on them.

A couple of more minutes of eating, Lady stood up, stretching her arms out and lightly yawning. "Man, I'm absolutely stuffed. Think I'll go and take a page from Noir, maybe nap until we reach Mistral city."

Trish nodded, and decided to explore a bit more before going back to their cabin. Solidus watched carefully as the two split ways, with Lady going back into their cabin. Once alone, Solidus sent back his visuals to his master. He waited for a moment, until he received Spettro's commands.

"_Good work. Let your big sister take care of them and swap places with 's your turn to play with the Grimm."_

The snake familiar let out an amused hissed and stood up to do as he was told.

* * *

Spettro giggled very creepily, typing in his commands for his only female familiar. Taking notice that the terrain they were now approaching had no cold or snow and was, instead, a thick forest that had a convenient clearing in the middle, the Corrupted Creator grinned.

"Molto bene! Strength, stop this train. It's time to hunt!"

A second later, the train came to a halt, making him smile. He allowed his familiars to operate automatically, and instead kicked back, watching how they'll confront their targets.

* * *

Trish looked confused as she walked back to her cabin. The train had a sudden stop, with the announcement that there was something wrong with the engine. It slightly concerned her, because Argus Limited never had unplanned stops, even in the face of a Grimm attack.

She slid open the door and looked absolutely surprised to not see Lady. The femme fatale scratched her head. "That's odd." She fished out her Scroll, and didn't see any messages from her friend. "I'm sure Lady would've sent a text if she planned to go out."

Trish dialed the Walking Arsenal's number, and was completely shocked to see it lying on the desk as it flashed. Now the blonde was completely concerned. Lady always kept her Scroll close to her at all times, even if she doesn't always use it. She looked down, noticing a hand sticking out of the cabinet. A sigh escaped her lips, and she knelt down to open it fully.

"Very funny, Lady. If this is your idea of a prank, then you need to come-"

Trish gasped, her eyes shooting open. There inside was Lady, her entire body turning into cubes before vanishing entirely. Quickly, a scowl overcame Trish's features, realizing what was going on.

"A demon. There's a demon inside this train. I need to warn Patty and-"

Before she could finish, a multicolored beam shot out from the drawer and hit her in the throat. Trish's eyes widened as she saw a chunk of her throat fall down and disappear. The Lightning Demon clutched her neck, beginning to further worry as the hole in it did not seem to close up.

"_W-what's going on? Why isn't it healing?"_

Before she could further ponder, she was dragged out by a pair of arms and thrown into the convenient clearing. Trish pushed herself up just in time to see Strength rushing at her like a bull. The loss of her voice didn't deter Trish. She jumped out of the way, as the large ape crashed into the three. She went to grab her pistols, until she remembered that she left them in her bag. Grunting in annoyance, Trish cracked her knuckles, lightning crackling around her.

Strength ripped a tree out of its roots and threw it like a javelin. Trish jumped and ran over it before lunging at the demon, going for a scissor flip kick. However, the familiar read this and caught her by the feet. He grinned before it was quickly wiped away as Trish looked down on him with a triumphant smirk, her hands crossed and surging with lightning

"_Ha! He fell for it!"_

Trish quickly went for a double karate-chop, striking the large demon at its chest, grievously injuring it and forcing it to drop her. Quickly moving, Trish delivered numerous lightning-charged kicks and sent Strength into the air with a flip kick. The blonde jumped after him, attacking with an onslaught of rolling pinwheel kicks, ending with a heel stomp that crashed down the familiar. Channeling more lighting in her hand, Trish descended down and struck Strength in the stomach, electrocuting him.

Unfortunately, the femme fatale wasn't able to notice Solidus lunging from above. The large snake wrapped around Trish's limbs and constricted her. She was certainly surprised at the strength of the snake, and was unable to break free. Trish gaped, feeling its fangs sink it her neck, its venom flowing through her blood. The blonde hunter could feel her body start to shut down, going limp.

"_W-what the hell? How am I being affected?"_

Strength manhandled her up, allowing Scatter to drop down with a grin. **"We've successfully captured Trish, Spettro. All that is left is to capture Patty Lowell."**

Before Trish could even ponder at what was just said, the female familiar shot out the multicolored beam right at her, turning her into cubes just as what had happened earlier to Lady. The parts converged and flew right into the palm of Scatter's hands.

Back in his cabin, Spettro smirked, taking another sip of his wine. "Good. But, just to be sure, I'll have to go make a call." He placed down his glass and took out his earpiece. Simply clicking on it, he speed dialed his partner. "I got them, Glassare. Now, only Ms. Lowell is all that is required."

"_**Nice. I'll be waiting for you at the front of train station. The boss man is gonna be happy about this."**_

"As he should. Safe travels, my friend." But before he could hang up, Spettro asked something. "By the way, are we still up for that pizza hangout tonight?"

"_**Of course, do you even need to ask? It's one of the few things these filthy bastards made right! Alright, I'll see you later, Spettro."**_

"But of course. Arrividerci."

* * *

Noir's eyes fluttered open, her drowsiness starting to fade. She stretched out her limbs and sat up, rubbing her eyes. As she was about to greet Patty, she noticed that she wasn't there. Immediately, instinct took over her. Noir pulled out her Scroll and dialed both Lady and Trish. Much to her shock, they weren't responding. The eldest Arc looked out the window to see that, much to her relief they still weren't at Mistral city.

The First Daughter of Vergil barged out of her cabin, before calming herself down. Panicking and jumping to wild conclusions won't get her anywhere. She was a colonel of the Black Knights, she shouldn't let her emotions run her this far. She calmly strode up to the dining room, where many people were dining, luckily. Noir took her time, politely asking each and every diner if they had seen Patty.

Unfortunately, however, none of them had saw a girl of her description. Even as she approached every one, she still had no clue to start off from. At the corner of the room, disguised as a potted plant, Scatter watched Noir as she left the dining room and headed for the other cabins. She contacted her master of this detail.

"_Spettro. There's a woman searching for Patty. She… I don't know who that is. She's not in the data you provided. Requesting orders!"_

It took a moment for Spettro to respond, clearly confused by his familiar's finding. _**"How strange. I thought Trish and Lady were the ones escorting Patty Lowell. What does she look like?"**_

"_Aside from the fact that she could pass off as Patty's sister? Not much."_

"_**Hmm… She'll cause trouble if we let her investigate further. Follow her. I'll have your brothers come in to help. Eliminate her. And go brutally, if you'd like."**_

Scatter grunted back in obedience. She shifted her form and quickly went after her, going unnoticed by most of the room's occupants.

* * *

By now, Noir was becoming restless. If there was anything hated above else, it's not having enough intel. She couldn't perform at her fullest when she didn't know what were the full details. She sighed, completely irritated , but also afraid. What could have possibly put both Lady and Trish out of commission.?

"Excuse me, Miss?"

Noir spun around, seeing Solidus in his stolen body walking up to her. The blonde quirked a brow, all the while being cautious and apprehensive.

"I heard you were looking for a little girl that wore a large hat? I saw her go into the storage room for some reason."

Well, it was a start. Even if it did seemed too suspicious and obvious for a trap, but she needed everything she got if she wanted to find the three. Noir nodded in gratitude and ran for the aforementioned room. Once she arrive, she walked in slowly, taking in every detail to see if anything was off. And there was.

The room was completely empty.

Hearing the door slam shut, Noir turned around, only to have her throat be taken out by Scatter's attack. The blonde took a step back, looking horrified at the large chunk of her flesh on the ground. She looked up, seeing the three familiars looking down on her smugly.

"**Wow, you're an idiot, aren't you, you bitch? Seriously, it was so obvious that it was a trap, and you still walked in!"**

Noir could do nothing, but silently glare at them. She moved her hand to her hip to grab Murasama, only to grasp nothing but air…because she didn't bring it since she had only planned to hang out with Patty. She bit down a curse, and focused as Strength charged right at her for a haymaker. Noir caught him by the wrist and twisted his ankle, making the ape wince. She tripped the familiar up and slammed him down harshly, pinning him down with a stomp.

"**Woah… Okay, this chick actually has some skills." **said Scatter, completely surprised. She turned to her brother and nodded at him.

Solidus lunged at her, and tried to bite. Noir was quick to react and ducked under the serpent. Before it could escape, she grabbed it by its tail and twirled it around, tossing it at the wall. However, this left her defenseless. Scatter struck her and took away Noir's left foot, allowing Strength to grab her leg and slam her around like a ragdoll. The ape demon grinned and manhandled her, throwing her at the ceiling then punching her to Scatter's direction.

The female familiar cackled and shot out another chunk of Noir's throat, her right eyes, and then her entire right arm. The blonde fell down in a bloody heap, starting to lose strength. Her Aura, nor her healing that she inherited from her parents weren't kicking in… What gives?

"**Heh. That's just the beauty of my power. I can nullify any type of regeneration, because you aren't technically being hurt. Your flesh is still intact, so to speak. I just misplaced them. Your eyes register that they're not there, but the same can't be said for the rest of your body. So, technically, there's nothing to heal even if you ARE damaged! Well, except for this~"**

Scatter snapped her fingers, her brothers approaching the fallen hybrid with a menacing look. The two familiar basically thrashed her around, doing anything they can to hurt her that was within her abilities. Being only an ape, Strength punched, slammed, pounded and thrashed around the crippled blonde, while Solidus bit her in every part of her body that he could.

Noir could do nothing but endure the pain. She did her best to numb it all down, but it was starting to become too much for her. Heavily bruised with numerous broken bones and fractures, poisoned and also bleeding out… Yeah, she was probably going to die.

Scatter laughed madly, looking at the broken woman with a smug grin.

"**You know, since you're about to die, I might as well tell you. Your friends are inside of me. I rearranged them and added their bodies into me. And, so are your body parts. You'd need to kill me to get them back. But, good luck trying to get them back if you can't even stand up. Sorry, but you lose!"**

However, Noir's body then began to glow, much to the confusion of the three familiar. Before they could further react, the light became brighter, and blew them all back, sending them flying into the wall. When it died down, they gaped in horror to see Noir standing, and completely fine. The military girl cracked her neck, smirking down on the familiars.

"You scared me there for a moment. Me? Lose? You told me I fell into your trap, but really, it was the reverse. I didn't become the Colonel of the BK just because of strength alone. You gotta have a strategic mind as well."

And then, she snapped her fingers. Solidus hissed in pain, before crumpling down as it became a husk then dispersed into nothing but code. Strength was flung across the room, his body suddenly sustaining numerous blows and injuries. And finally, Scatter had lost the same parts that Noir had, causing her to fall on her butt. The female familiar tired to crawl away, but couldn't.

Noir held out her two arms to the side, Agni and Rudra materializing into her hands. Scatter quivered in fear as the smirk on Noir's face turned into a grin as she crossed her blades. From behind, Strength had recovered and pounced at the Arc. Noir plunged her blades into his stomach, stopping him in mid-air.

"**Let us show them... What a granddaughter of Sparda is capable of!" **announced the two Devils Arms.

Swiftly pulling back, she let out a war cry and delivered numerous rapid slashes to the airborne ape familiar, sending it further up with a rising cross-slash. She joined the two pommels together and began spinning it around, creating a firestorm tornado.

Strength roared in agony. With the pain that he had dished out earlier being reflected back to him, and the blaze that was scorching him right now, he wouldn't last long.

However, Noir halted the attack. She grunted and charged at the charred ape, swinging around her blades with frantic speeds. And, for the finale, she kicked herself up into the air, delivering a spinning downward slash, bisecting the Strength, causing him to explode violently into a stream of codes.

Noir stood up and flourished her swords, looking to finish it off, before realizing that Scatter had escaped.

* * *

Spettro stared at his laptop in complete shock, as the programs for both Solidus and Strength had forcefully closed down without warning. He panicked and started typing into the keyboard, trying to re-open them. But, nothing could be done… Because they were dead.

"What the hell happened?"

Scatter brought for a message, her words clearly panicked. _"Spettro! We completely screwed up! We underestimated that girl, and now my brothers are dead!"_

"What?! How?!" both screamed and typed the servant of Orochi. However, he composed himself and tried not to panic. "No. Never mind that. Just get out of there, my daughter, presto! Our priority is to secure the targets!"

"_Too late! She found me!"_

Spettro grabbed his hair in both frustration and fear. Who the hell was that bitch that managed to kill his familiars?!

* * *

Noir threw down Scatter on the floor, harshly. She didn't actually escaped, she blended herself in the walls with her namesake ability. Yet, Noir was able to spot her. Scatter gaped in terror, trying to find a way out as the BK Colonel stared her down with a menacingly blank look.

"Now, you're gonna tell me what I want to know, or I'll burn you into charcoal."

"**Fat chance, puttana!"**

Dicing herself up, Scatter went to head for the door, but was blocked by the wall of fire that Agni had generated. Noir followed after the escaping familiar, striking at it every time she got close, and yet it kept on scattering itself to dodge.

"**Nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh! You can't hit-aaaah!"**

Noir had switched tactics, and instead generated a firestorm tornado, streaming it at the demon. Scatter screamed as she felt some parts of her be burned. The familiar swiftly called back the now charred pieces, turning whole again. Before she could react, however, Noir had managed to get in front of her and started hacking her to pieces.

With the pain that invaded her mind, Scatter couldn't properly think to split herself up to avoid the attacks. Noir struck in blinding speed, her arms having become nothing but a blur as she took apart Scatter. Stopping momentarily, she joined Agni and Rudra by the pommel once again and started generating a large firestorm tornado, making the familiar shriek in fear. Noir swung down the blades, and engulfed her into the flames.

Scatter's shriek bounced off of the empty room as her entire body was turned into ash. When there was nothing left, Noir sighed and let her arms fall limp by her side, a bit relieved that it was now partially over. After all they, it had been obvious they were taking orders from someone. She just needed to find who it was.

* * *

A bit earlier, at the Mistral city train station parking lot, a red convertible had drifted to a stop at one of the unoccupied spaces. The driver had a light blue hair, neatly combed up from side-to-side. Icy white eyes, complimented by a pair of thick-framed glasses. The man wore a tight-fitting long-sleeved blouse that was buttoned to the side, and had small coattails on each side. He also had on patterned jeans, a pair of black sneakers and fingerless gloves.

The man scanned the area, who was Glassare, scanned around the area, looking for his friend to pick him up. However, no matter where he looked, he couldn't Spettro, and that concerned him. His friend was always the punctual type, and always preferred to finish things as quickly as possible. So if he still wasn't here, then something was wrong.

"Or maybe I'm over thinking things and the train's just a damn bit late."

So, he decided to wait for a bit. About a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, he still wasn't there. Glassare leaned into his seat, thinking out loud. "Guess I'll have to think outside the box and leave no stone unturned like they suggested. I get the second one. Even an idiot can understand it. I mean, who hasn't turn over rocks to find stuff?"

All of a sudden, he slammed his fist into his car's glove box in a fit if anger, his face contorting into rage. "But what the hell's thinking outside the box even supposed to mean?! Maybe I think better in there! Dammit, so my brain's in a box now?!" He continuously punched his car, getting worked up over the saying. " SERIOUSLY, THAT'S THE DUMBEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD! YOU THINK I'M STUPID OR SOMETHING, CAZZO?!"

* * *

If he was shocked earlier, now he was absolutely terrified. Spettro trembled as Scatter's program closed down forcefully, signifying her death. The yellow-eyed man could not tear his gaze away from his screen, staring at still in full disbelief.

"H-How is this possible…?"

His Scroll started to ring, partially snapping him out of his daze. He shakily clicked his earpiece, and his friend's voice came out.

"_**Spettro, where the hell are you?! I'm right by the parking lot, and I don't see you!"**_

Unfortunately, Spettro was still staring at the screen in disbelief that his familiars were so easily beaten.

"_**Are you listening, hello!?"**_

Finally, he snapped out of his daze fully and responded to his fellow follower. "Yes, I can hear you, but there's been a snag in our plans… My familiars, so how, they've been beaten in battle."

"_**...What? How the hell is that possible, and how could you have failed?!"**_

"Don't go on counting me out, just yet." Holes opened up and the vials with blood popped up. "I still contain Trish's and Lady's lifeblood! This train is full of possible hosts, allowing me to give my other familiars some bodies. They'll hunt them down in no time."

"_**Heheheheh. You better be right about that, mio amico. You know how the boss man gets about failure…"**_

Spettro nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing with that sentiment. "You should spread the words to the others of another possible threat. There may be others that are affiliated with Dante that we're somehow unaware of."

Without prompt, thunder suddenly crackled in the sky. Spettro looked out of his window in confusion and saw that the sky was relative clear.

"How odd… The sky is clear and yet thunder is rumbling as if lightning's about to strike."

"_**Spettro? The hell are you talking about?"**_

The Corrupted Creator's eyes flew open, realizing what was going on. "Get out of there!They spotted m-" He was promptly cut off as a large beam of lightning crashed down on his entire body. Spettro screamed in suffering as he felt his entire being be fried. With one last scream, he fell back, his eyes rolled over and his entire body cooked.

Above the moving train, Trish smiled in satisfaction, willing away her lightning. And just to be sure, Lady planted a couple of bullets into his head and heart, if he just so happened to have any regenerative powers or such. With that done, they hopped back into the train.

* * *

"Spettro? Hey, what's going over there, answer me!" screamed Glassare into his Scroll. When he received nothing but static, he could only reach one logical conclusion. "They got Spettro?!" He started slamming down his foot on his car in a fit, completely pissed that his friend was dead. "Dammit. Dammit! DAMMIT! **DAMMIT!"**

He quirked a brow, his Scroll getting a call. Accepting it, he screamed into his phone.**"WHAT?!"**

"_**Don't hit me with that tone of yours, Glassare."**_

The blue-haired man sneered once he heard who it was. "I don't need your shit right now, Vice! Spettro's fucking dead!"

"_**What? How?"**_

"I don't know! All I do know is that they're good. I'm already on the road to Hyperion Avenue to think of a new plan."

"_**Don't. I'll come pick you up. It would be better if we team up, so we can overwhelm these mortals together."**_

While Vice went on, Glassare stepped on the breaks, looking at the sidewalk in complete shock. There walked Jaune, speaking with Pyrrha and Kyrie with a smiles on their faces, as the former held Fenris by the leash. Glassare openly gaped and didn't respond, irritating the female follower, who started ranting.

"I'm gonna have to call you later, Vice." he finally responded, after a few seconds. He smirked maniacally, setting his sights not on Pyrrha, not on Kyrie, not even on Jaune, but on Fenris. "Because I just found my what I was looking for."

Glassare hung up on the phone and drove off, already storming his plan for confrontations.

* * *

**If it wasn't already obvious, Spettro is supposed to be an expy of Melone from Vento Aureo. I did it, because Brian Hanford became his dub actor, that, and I liked his Stand ability. And if it wasn't also obvious who Glassare is an expy of, get your eyes checked. :p**

**As for Noir's Semblance, if you were confused, the best way to describe is, 'no u', except she needs to have been both hit by it, and she's fully conscious. She also can't reflect back things that she's not aware of.**

**My apologies if the fight wasn't up to standard. Was a feeling a little under the weather. The next fight will be improved, I swear. That's all for this chapter. Review if y'all have any further questions, and stay safe and healthy!**


	15. A Time to Chill Out

"Orochi?" questioned Dante.

The entire Devil May Cry crew was present inside of the shop, eating pizza and having a meeting regarding the skirmish with Spettro yesterday. Dante sat at his desk, of course. Both Lady and Trish sat on the couch. Luna leaned against the pool table while her little brother was situated on the railings, hanging upside down. Ren and Nora were sitting on the stairs. Trish finished her slice and went to talking.

"Yes. Orochi used to be some sort of divine being that was born after the creation of Remnant. It used to be a protector of the world, until it decided that humans and Faunus needed to be wiped out to save nature with all of the progress that you've all made. He was very powerful, that even Mundus left him on his own out of slight fear and respect. It took the combined might of Sparda and three separate clans with mystical treasures in successfully sealing him away."

Luna then took over, being quite the bookworm, and spending some of her free time in getting more knowledge.

"However, before he was sealed, Orochi had eight of his most strongest and loyal servants, assigned with the task of freeing him from his seal. They called themselves the Eight Heads of Orochi, or the Hakkesshu. Each of them is imbued with a part of Orochi's powers. And these powers come from the very world itself - creation, nothingness, the cold wind, water, fire, darkness, light and the very earth itself. However, even if they die, they're eventually reincarnated, but with no memories, only that they need to free Orochi."

Lady frowned at this, swallowing her pizza. She voiced her opinion on this. "So, what? Us killing Spettro was all for nothing?"

The Daughter of Vergil shook her head, putting some bit of relief in her. "No. Like I said, they lose the memories of their previous life, and only remember their purpose. But even then, it takes them half a century to be reformed. So we won't be worrying about him anytime soon. And with him dead, we only need to worry about the remaining seven."

"Considering the fact that sis could beat him pretty easily, then we don't have anything to worry about!" exclaimed Jaune.

Surprisingly, Dante shook his head. "I don't think so, kid. The guy underestimated your sister, because he didn't know anything about her. And we're in the same boat. We got nothing about them. We don't know what they look like or what they're capable of. Only that they exist. They could be anywhere. They could be someone famous and we wouldn't even know."

This completely stumped everyone. How can they fight of an enemy without knowledge about? The mood of the entire crew grew somber, as they tried to think of something.

Unbeknownst to them, a beautiful lady had appeared out of the shadows. She had a slender yet curvy figure in all the right places. Black hair styled in a pixie bob cut, rosy red lips with a beauty mark at the bottom of her left cheek. She wore some sort of skintight, leather suit that accented her curves, decorated with patterns of roses. Dark blue gloves and heels, along with a pair of glasses that somehow made her even more hotter.

The woman quietly sauntered over to Dante, looking at him with a mischievous smirk. Before could he react and take notice of her, she straddled him and pulled him in for a kiss on the lips. Dante reacted just as much as you'd expect. By hugging the woman and pushing the kiss even deeper. However, before it could evolve into a steamy make-out session, Dante pulled away with a cheeky grin, making the beautiful lady pout.

"Aw. Why'd you do that, luv? We were just gonna get to the good part."

Dante chuckled, letting the lady rest her head on his chest. "Well, that's a good way of morning greeting. Didn't know you were coming, Cereza."

Before anything else, Ren rushed down and tackled the two. Cereza broke away from her boyfriend's embrace and turned around to hug the teen, smiling down at him affectionately. "Come now, Ren. Did you miss mum that much? Sorry I haven't visited in a while. The hospital was swarmed."

Jaune dropped from the railings and wordlessly waved in greeting to the woman. Trish smiled and spoke to her. "So, how have you been lately, Cereza?"

"Oh you know how it is. Helping out the lovely children recover and, when I can, those who've lost the plot. Although, it has been getting a bit irritating when some bloody wankers try to act sick just so they can cop a feel. Like that drunk who thought it was funny to slap my bum."

"Can't exactly blame them, Dr. Cereza. You do have a great ass to die for." said Nora without any sort of hesitation.

Both Dante and Cereza laughed at the girl's bluntness, with the former smacking said ass appreciatively, fully agreeing with what Nora said. The others were also amused, snickering lightly at the off-handed comment. In the background, Lady couldn't help but look at the pair longingly, feeling a bit jealous of them. She shook her head, reminding herself that she had her chance. She had no right of being jealous when she was the one that let him go. Unbeknownst to her, Cereza noticed this and filed it away in her head.

Deciding on the offshoot she could help, Luna asked her. "Dr. Cereza, you wouldn't happen to know anything about Orochi, would you?"

"Orochi? No. Can't say I have." She shook her head, the word obviously being foreign to her.

Luna frowned at this, muttering out a thanks even if she didn't get anything. With nothing else to work on, Dante dismissed the others, telling them to call if they had something. Trish and Lady went out to somewhere, while Jaune and Luna went back home.

* * *

Jaune plopped down onto the couch, humming in thought. Luna had locked herself in their little library, determined to find something about Orochi, his lackeys, and the three unknown clans. And it was just the two of them. Jeanne took Patty out to somewhere, maybe one of her restaurants, and Noir was called in by her superior to help out on a training exercise of sorts.

Pyrrha was busy in Sanctum, while Kyrie was helping out their mother with the bakery, so with nothing better to do, Jaune decided to take a quick nap. However, before he could even close his eyes, Fenris came scuttling up to him, the leash to his collar in his mouth. The white-haired teen smirked a bit, sitting up to look at his wolf.

"Really, buddy? We just went on a walk this morning!" Fenris said nothing and instead sat down, looking at his master expectantly. Jaune just sighed and patted him on the head, taking the leash off his mouth. The black wolf licked his master's face happily, making him laugh. "Okay okay, that's enough, Fen."

Attaching the leash to the collar, Jaune and Fenris walked out the door, with the former calling out to his sister that he was gonna walk the latter. Master and pet took a stroll to the Freedom Park, watching the kids that ran around and played, living out their childhood. They passed by some others who were walking their own pets. They weren't even freaked out by the wolf, having been accustomed to it after a few years.

They roamed around the park a few more minutes, before deciding to sit down to take a bit of break and soak up some sun. Jaune absentmindedly ran his hand through Fenris's fur as he remembered the good times he had with him growing up. All the enjoyable memories. The teen smiled and just enjoyed the moment. However, the moment had to be broken with the both of their stomachs rumbling in hunger. Jaune chuckled, with Fenris doing his best impression of one.

"You wanna get some blueberry pancakes, Fen?" No words needed to be spoken as Fenris started to run off to the local pancake restaurant, with Jaune hurrying over to catch up to him. "Hey, wait up!"

At an open air cafe, Glassare calmly bit into his cannoli, watching as the two entered into the restaurant beside the one he was in. The blue-haired man swallowed and smirked. "This will be easy. It'll almost be like taking candy from a baby." Then all of a sudden, he crushed the cannoli that he was eating, standing up as he stood up and grew enraged. "But why the hell would you even do that?! What kind of a sick freak would even think of taking candy from an infant?! That's so stupid!"

One of the servers walked up to the man, looking a bit worried. "Sir, are you alright? Do you need something?"

Glassare sat down, composing himself. "Nothing to worry about. I'm alright." But before he could leave, Glassare stopped him. "Wait. Actually, I'd like a milkshake."

* * *

Jaune and Fenris stepped out of the restaurant, properly stuffed. The cambion waved goodbye to the owner of the establishment and they started to head home. But on a whim, they decided to take the long way. Seeing them walk away, Glassare slammed down the proper amount of Lien required on his table and started following after them.

The devil hunter eventually noticed. After a few turns and straights, he could feel that someone was following them. Unfortunately, he couldn't fully sense out whoever it was. They perfectly masked themselves among the crowd, it was like looking for a specific needle inside of a needle stack.

Even Fenris could sense it. But, they couldn't make a scene. Not with the amount of people in the area. So, whoever it was that followed them, he led them into an isolated alleyway, perfectly lit up yet covered so no one can see what was going on. After a moment of silence, Jaune called out to him, making sure to hover his hand over Blue Rose's holster discreetly.

"What the hell do you want?"

The two blinked in surprise as the surrounding area's temperature suddenly dropped. Jaune shivered, not used to the extreme cold, while Fenris didn't seem to be affected, and looked to be more terrified of the presence of the winds. Jaune gasped, feeling his breath be taken away as he started to sway and lean on the wall. Much to his shock, he found himself stuck. Every move he made didn't even budge. Only his face.

"W-what's going on? My body's starting to freeze in place. This is more intense than the ice that Bael had!"

From the ground, ice began to creep up, forming into a human-like shape. It shook before breaking apart, revealing Glassare. The blue-haired man looked down on Jaune, before turning his attention on the black wolf.

"So, this is where you've been. To think, I thought you died, instead you're with this damned paradox." His eyes lit up, seeing the teen glare at him. "Oh right. Where the hell are my manners? The name's Glassare, the White Album of Lord Orochi."

Although his face was now frozen in place due to the cold, Jaune was honestly shocked. _"You're kidding me! This guy's one of Orochi's servants?! Dammit, and I can't even move."_

Glassare laughed mockingly at the immobile teen. "How do you like the cold? I can easily decrease the temperature to -100C without even breaking a sweat. It's like you're being cryogenically frozen up to the point the heat in your body disappears, making it go numb. If I were to pinch your pinky, it'd shatter just like ice! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The ice wielder stared down on Fenris, who still seemed to ignore the cold. However, the black wolf was instead shivering in fear. Glassare glared icily at him, starting to feel his anger rise up.

"I spent YEARS trying to find you, you bitch. It took me decades to craft the perfect monster made from Lord Orochi's ice! But then you just had to escape, and gain a fucking soul, didn't you?!" Glassare kicked down the wolf, and began to stomp on him, very much pissed. "DO YOU KNOW THE PAIN THE BOSS MAN INFLICTED ON ME BECAUSE OF MY FAILURE?! I WAS PUT OUT OF COMMISSION FOR FIVE YEARS BECAUSE OF YOU! FIVE. DAMNED. YEARS!"

Before he could get another kick in, two bullets launched back Glassare, getting him off of Fenris. The man with no chill looked up, and saw Jaune with Blue Rose, much to his surprise. "Here's a little trivia for ya - bullets pack literal heat. It may be small, but it's enough for me to start moving!"

The Arc Devil glared at him and rapidly pulled the trigger, barraging Glassare and sending him flying into the lamp post. This allowed Fenris to turn tail and get away. Jaune pried himself off the wall and quickly followed his friend.

"Eat our dust!" he mocked, leaving the man to bleed out…or so they thought.

The wounds on Glassare began to seal, the bullets popping out to close them up. Although still immobile, ice then began to coat up his entire body like a thick sheet. Glassare blinked, gaining a determined look. His entire body was now garbed in some sort of sleek armor. It was primarily light-colored. The only thing visible of his body was his face, which was covered in some sort of visor. And, quite strangely, the feet resembled ice skates that allowed him to skate across almost any surface.

The White Album rose up, pondering on what Jaune had just said. **"You know how when a person manages to go faster than someone, they'll usually say something to the one they're leaving behind. 'Eat my dust'. Because you're kicking up dust whenever you start running." **Then, of course, he started to get absolutely pissed off at the idiom, metaphor, whatever. **"BUT** **IT'S NOT SOME SORT OF FOOD, YOU PUTANNA! IT'S DIRT ON THE GROUND! AND IT'S NOT EVEN YOURS, SO WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TELLING ME TO EAT IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!"**

With his burst of anger, he rushed off to hurry after the duo.

* * *

Jaune pushed against the crowd, muttering a quick apology as he did his best not to lose Fenris. He could sense the great distress from his pet. And inferring from what Glassare had said earlier, it was easy to put two and two together that he was the reason why Fenris was acting the way he was. That, and he was also responsible for putting him in the condition he had found him.

"Fenris, calm down!"

But he didn't listen. The black wolf still panicked, much focused on getting away from the area to escape his tormentor. Fenris then suddenly turned left, much to Jaune's confusion. The path it would take would lead him to the forest-oh.

"Smart boy. He doesn't want to involve any innocent people just in case a fight breaks out." he muttered to himself, proud of his friend's quick thinking.

A minute later, and they were now in the near-by forest. By now, Jaune had caught up with Fenris, who started to slow and calm down. The two of them stopped by a hidden clearing, needing to get their bearings together.

"You okay, buddy? You know can tell me anything, right?"

Fenris whined, still a bit afraid. Jaune gently rubbed his head, lightly comforting the large wolf. Unfortunately, the moment was broken as a sudden breeze of snow blasted them, that somehow managed to fling Jaune into a couple of trees, all breaking down from the force.

"**You thought you can get away from ME?!"**

Glassare slid into view, shrouding out a menacing aura. The White Album skid to a stop, sneering down on Jaune.

"**This is the beauty of my powers! I can cover myself in ice and increase my defenses, making it harder for me to get hurt! Come on, hit me!"**

Jaune growled and cocked back his Devil Bringer and struck Glassare straight in the face. Despite his bold claims, the attack managed to crack his visor, making Jaune smirk. But, it was quickly wiped away as ice began to creep up to his arm.

"**Like I said, you can't hurt me! Or did you already forget that this armor's made of ice!? Every hit you'll make, it makes no difference, because it'll just freeze your arms solid!"**

"Why don't you just shut up!?"

Jaune pulled back and started throwing a barrage of punches at a fast pace. However, true to Glassare's word, every hit that landed caused Jaune's arms to start freezing up, until it reached up to his shoulders. Glassare cackled and shattered Jaune's left arm, making the teen wince in pain as blood spurted out, before quickly freezing up.

"**And you know what's the best part? You can't heal! The ice is blocking your regeneration! Good luck surviving this, cazzo!"**

The Arc Devil stumbled back, reeling from the numbing pain he felt. _"Dammit. Of all the times not to have Red Queen on me. This guy would've been done in by now."_ He fell to his knees, starting to get a bit weary. _"With my Devil Bringer frozen, I can't seem to summon outq Beowulf…"_

"**NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO DIE, JAUNE ARC!"**

He generated a large glacier of ice and threw it at the kneeling blond. Yet much to their confusion, the attack never came. Something jumped down and shattered the glacier, infuriating Glassare.

"**What the hell? Who broke my ice?!"**

There stood Fenris, looking quite different. The dire wolf's fur was no longer just black, having gained blue streaks around his neck that made it look like a mane. What's more, he grew a few inches bigger, with his fur growing much more thicker and wilder. His canines were more longer and sharper, turning into an almost icy blue.

Glassare glared at the wolf, completely taken aback by the sudden transformation. But he didn't even get the time to even utter his surprise as Fenris shot out multiple spears of ice from his mouth. Some of them managed to strike to the ice wielder in the forehead, the chest and legs. Fenris growled and breathed out a wave of frost, pushing away Glassare and freezing him off somewhere.

Jaune quickly used the distraction to his advantage and shattered the ice on his Devil Bringer and his frozen stump by Triggering. The Lone Son steadied his breath, feeling himself getting warmer. He looked at Fenris in curiosity as his arm regenerated. The apparent wolf demon looked back at his master, and barked at him happily, his tail wagging around. Jaune smiled, glad that despite the transformation, his buddy was still the same on the inside.

"**YOU DAMNED BASTARDO!"**

Glassare came bursting in at breakneck speed and sent Fenris lying with a hook, slamming him into a tree. Jaune, his pseudo-Devil Trigger still active, quickly called out Beowulf and dashed in. Luckily, this time the ice didn't creep up to him, allowing the cambion to attack without worry.

The devil hunter sent out two straights, then launched Glassare into the air. He lunged and juggled with him a heavyweight uppercut. Jumping after the still airborne man, Jaune spun around and kicked him aggressively, sending him back down with a forceful heel kick.

Glassare picked himself up and slid back, evading the dive kick. Calling forth his ice, he began spamming out multiple icicle projectiles at the white-haired teen. Jaune flipped back, channeling Royal Guard and blocked the attacks that came his way.

Fenris recovered and helped out his master. Channeling ice spikes all over his body, he rushed forward and leaped into the air, starting to spin around like a disk, which homed in on Glassare. The White Album cried out in pain, feeling his ice be chipped away, allowing him to get hurt. Growling, he clutched Fenris by the side and kneed him in the face. He jabbed him in the stomach and pushed him back with a roundhouse kick.

"**Alright, enough playing around! WHITE ICE - GENTLY WEEPS!"**

A wave of aurora flared out of Glassare's body. The White Album roared and struck the ground. A gust-no, a blizzard of cold washed over the surrounding area. It struck every plant life and whatever animal that were unfortunate enough to be nearby. The resulting effect? It froze them all in an instinct, before promptly shattering into nothing.

Despite being protected by his pseudo-Trigger, Jaune couldn't help but let out a shaky breath, which was apparent due to the rampant cold. Fenris, liker earlier, wasn't affected. The blizzard didn't stop, before it coated the entire area to the point that the two were now basically blind. And what's worse, Glassare had disappeared. The duo looked around, trying to spot him. But they couldn't. They could only hear his disembodied voice.

"**Everyone knows the city of love - Paris. People who use the common tongue pronounce it as 'Paris', while a majority say 'Pah-rhee', the way it's supposed to be. Yet somehow Venice has replaced the real Venezia as the world wide standard. Like those stories - 'The Merchant of Venice', and 'Death in Venice'."**

Glassare revealed himself to the two, looking absolutely livid. And he took out his anger on them, blasting them with an unseen blast of ice shards then going back into the blizzard, before going back and striking them once again. He repeated this cycle over and over, all the while ranting.

"**WHY?! CALL THE DAMNED BOOK 'DEATH IN VENEZIA'! IT'S NOT THAT HARD! WHAT?! DON'T FUCKING KNOW YOUR OWN LANGUAGE?! SEE, THIS IS WHY HUMANS AND FAUNUS SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY WIPED AWAY! SERIOULY, WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT IS THIS EVEN?!"**

Jaune and Fenris grunted, being pushed around by the continuous attacks of ice. And yet, the former was already formulating a plan. He noticed that Glassare wasn't attacking at random, he had a pattern that he was following. A window that he could use to his advantage.

Sensing the next attack coming, Jaune quickly blocked the attack with Royal Guard, surprising the White Album. With him distracted, the Arc Devil grabbed Glassare with a Buster. He dragged the blue-haired man towards him. The teen sent him into the air with a powerful uppercut, then barraged him with numerous punches, assisted by his phantom. Jumping up, he stomped down on the armored servant and spun around like a drilling, crashing him down on the ground.

Jaune jumped off, allowing for Fenris to have his turn. The Lobo generated out a beam of ice and shot it into the air. Above the writhing demon, rows of stalactites appeared and crashed down on him, trapping and piercing him to the ground.

Blood seeped out, confirming that Glassare was grievously wounded. Jaune sagged in relief, as he willed away his pseudo-Devil Trigger. He walked up to Fenris and rubbed his head affectionately, making the wolf pet bark happily.

"Well, guess that's that. Come on, let's go tell the others that we killed another one of Orochi's lackeys."

"**DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT?!"**

The stalactites exploded in a cloud of mist, some of its fragments piercing the unsuspecting duo. Out of the mist, Glassare rocketed out with no visible wounds, and grabbed the both of them. Once he made enough of distance, he skidded to a stop and threw Jaune directly at a particularly sharp tree branch. The aim was precise. Jaune's body was impaled on the branch, blood thickly coating it. The teen winced, not all expecting this to happen.

Glassare glared at Fenris, tightly clutching the wolf by the neck. The bespectacled demon quirked an eyebrow, taking notice of the area they were now in. He took in his surroundings and felt it all familiar to him. Jaune was in the same boat. Although in pain, he recognized where they were.

"T-This… This is where I found Fenris…" he realized.

Glassare seethed at this. His grasp on Fenris's neck getting tighter. **"All this… It was right here. RIGHT FUCKING HERE?! THIS IS WHERE I LOST YOU?!" **Surprisingly, however, he reined in his anger. The White Album smirked and rose the wolf into the air triumphantly. **"But now? None of that even matters anymore. I'll just take what was mine in the first place!"**

Then, without warning, he plunged his arm into Fenris's stomach. Jaune had just pushed himself off the tree branch when he saw this. Eyes wide, he shouted.

"FENRIS…!"

The ice-wielder tossed Fenris right at the blond, now clutching some sort of rock that had icicles sticking out of it, except they were darkly colored blue. Glassare looked upon the object with glee gleaming in his eyes.

"**Finally…! After all this years of searching, I can have back my full power!"**

He crushed the stone in his hands, and a black aura began to surround him. Glassare leaned back, laughing maniacally as his armor switched from light to dark colors. Jaune was unaware of what was happening, more focused on tending to his pet…his friend. Luckily, Fenris would live. The large hole in his body starting to heal up despite what happened.

Glassare looked at his fingertips, feeling the cold presence of his powers. Clutching his hands, he grinned viciously and released a blanket of hail. Jaune grabbed Fenris and wrapped himself around him, taking the full brunt of the projectiles.

"**No, no. That's not enough! WHITE ICE - ABSOLUTE ZERO!"**

With his mere presence, the entire area was now completely frozen solid. Every tree, plant or flowers were now encased in ice, with the grass covered in a thick blanket of snow. Glassare cackled madly, pretty happy that he was back at full strength.

Jaune could only grit his teeth as he felt himself freeze up once again. His entire body was going numb at the sheer cold. He really regret not having Red Queen with him. In his arms, Fenris whined in worry for his master as he stopped moving. He turned to the source of his master's suffering, who had also caused him many pains.

Fenris growled angrily. He felt mad at Glassare. And he never got angry. He never know to be such. But for this first time, he was. Fenris jumped out of Jaune's arms and rushed at the cackling demon. The black wolf howled and crashed into Glassare, interrupting him from his reverie. At point blank range, Fenris generated out multiple icicles and shot them all at the White Album.

"**WHAT THE HELL?!" **he exclaimed as he was pelted with projectiles. **"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU STILL HAVE ICE?!"**

Much to his surprise, Fenris . **_"Leave… my master… ALONE!"_**

He breathed out a large flurry of frost, covering up Glassare's visor. He panicked trying to get it off. With him distracted, Fenris fired off multiple ice shards, all of the ricocheting. The shards kept on striking the member of the Hakkeshu, forcing him back until he was backed into a tree, with a branch just as sharp as the one that impaled Jaune earlier.

Once more, Fenris created a block of ice, this time, large and blunt enough that it would shove Glassare's head into the branch. Without giving him a moment of rest, Fenris launched the large ice block. It impacted against the man and shattered, causing him to trip. Glassare screamed as blood started to pour out, but luckily for him, only the tip was inside of him.

"**F-Fuck! This warm feeling…! My own blood's trickling down my back! AAAAAAH!"**

Fenris ignore the man's panic and started pelting him with icy bullets, forcing the man quite further back. But then, all of a sudden, it started to ricochet out of nowhere. Fenris's eyes widened in shock as his projectiles were sent right back at him. Glassare had finally managed to wipe out the frost that covered his visor just in time to see Fenris spit out some blood, heavily panting.

"**Y-You scared me there for a second, you mutt! But luckily for me, the blood that you made me spurt out worked for to my advantage! I froze it and turned it into an icy support so the branch won't pierce my body! And as for your little ice bullets? Did I forget to mention that I can control moisture as well? No? THEN TOO BAD! BECAUSE I SURROUNDED MYSELF WITH CLEAR BLOCKS OF ICE! AND NO MATTER WHERE YOU AIM, IT'LL COME RIGHT BACK AT YOU!"**

The wolf didn't listen. It kept on firing out what projectiles he could muster. But true to what Glassare had said, it all went back to sender. Fenris panted, his body now riddled with holes. Unlike earlier, however, they didn't seem to heal up. The White Album sneered, realizing what this meant.

"**I see. I understand now. Lord Orochi's ice was inside you for so many years, it's influence still lingers even after I took it back. But it's quite taxing, isn't it? Without Lord Orochi's ice, it drains you more than it should…to the point that it'll kill you if you overdo it. SO GO AHEAD, FIDO! AND SPARE ME THE TROUBLE OF KILLING YOU MYSELF!"**

Fenris growled. He didn't even care. He needed to save his master. That's all that mattered to him. For a moment, he looked back, and saw that his master was shaking… He was recovering! He just needed more time.

The black wolf roared and relentlessly sent out more shards of ice, hoping for at least one of them to get through. But his hopes were dashed. All of his attacks returned and pierced him through his body. One more hit…and he was done for the count.

"**_No… Not… Here… I cannot… Die yet… My master… He still needs me!"_**

"**I'd give up if I were you, Fido! Arc's already dead by now, and you're on your last wind! Once you die, I just need to pry myself off and cool down for a bit, before going after the others! But it looks like I don't need to wait!"**

From out of the blue, a shard struck Fenris straight in the head, his eyes completely widened… He had failed. His master was going to die, and so was he. Glassare grinned, assured of his victory.

"**Success! I win!"**

**Play - "Il vento d'oro"(You know which part)**

As Fenris fell, a couple of hands caught him. Both him and Glassare looked surprised as they saw Jaune, who had finally thawed out. However, Glassare was more focused on something else. Something that made him actually scared.

"**_Okay, what the fuck, and why do I feel deja vu? And why does that piano sound familiar?!"_**

The blond looked down on his pet, who had tears in his eyes. But even in death, Fenris was happy. He licked his master one last time and his head fell back, death's embrace taking him. Jaune's eyes was then shadowed by his hair, but it didn't hide the tears that flowed down his cheeks.

"Go ahead, buddy… You can take a nap for as long as you like. You deserve it." He laid down his dead pet, standing up as the light of shattered moon shone down on him. **"Thanks to Fenris, you're ripe for the taking. Even if you were a servant of Orochi, I would've given you a swift death. But now? Now you pissed me off and made things personal. Because of that," **his pseudo-Trigger sprung into life, staring down menacingly on the trapped man as his eyes burned with vengeance. **"I'll make it even more brutal than what I planned to!"**

Fear and panic completely overtook Glassare as he screamed for mercy. But Jaune gave him none. The Son of Vergil had his phantom rapidly barrage him with numerous punches, all the while he stood back. He swiftly pulled back his Trigger and took the reins.

Equipping himself with Beowulf, he jumped and started savagely kicking him down. Inch by inch, the branch was starting to poke him even further. Jaune dropped down and switched to punching the man. Once he had enough, he grabbed Glassare by the head, and just pushed him straight in the branch.

With one last scream of agony, the White Album's hands fell limp, the branch coated in blood, brain matter and an eyeball. The armor that he encased himself with melted into water, washing away some of the blood. Jaune closed his eyes and willed away his weapons, relief and sadness filling him.

He grunted in uncertainty as he saw the ice core that Glassare had ripped out of his pet fall down. He hesitantly picked it up, before it shattered and embedded itself into his skin before he could even react. Jaune watched in curiosity as his Devil Bringer's skin **_changed_**. From a bright red, it had turned snow white. As quick as it came, it then faded.

The Son of Vergil resolved to investigate it some other time. First, he had a more important matter to attend to. He slowly walked up to the corpse of his pet, the tears coming back with a vengeance. He knelt down besides Fenris and softly caressed his head, a sad smile crossing his lips as he remembered all the good times they spent together.

He stood up and got to digging out a small hole, big enough to fit the body of an animal. Jaune gingerly removed Fenris's collar and carefully lowered him into it. He covered it up and marked it with a jagged stone, hoping to remember so he could give him a much more proper burial.

"Thank you, Fenris, for being an awesome pet... I hope you enjoy the afterlife. Goodbye, my friend."

With a tear-filled farewell, he stood up and started heading home. But, had he stayed there for a moment longer, he would've noticed the orb of light that materialized above the makeshift grave.

* * *

Jaune pushed open the door and saw most of his sisters and mother sitting at the living room, playing some sort of board game, happily laughing out loud. Patty was the first to notice him and smiled.

"Hey, Jaune. Mom bought me this new game. It's super fun! Why don't you come-"

"I'm not in the mood." he cut in, a bit rudely.

Jeanne stood up, about to admonish her son when she took notice _of the dried blood that caked his clothes._ "Goodness! Are you alright, Jaune? Did you get into a fight or something?"

Having been the only one present earlier when he left, Luna took notice that he was all alone.

"Hey, where's Fenris?"

Tears threatened to fall down, but he staved them off. No. He had cried enough. With a heavy heart, he instead showed them Fenris's bloodstained collar. Almost everyone immediately knew what it implied. The joyful mood vanished, replaced with the somberness that Jaune had brought. Jeanne grabbed her son and pulled him in for a comforting embrace. Jaune wrapped his hands around his mother, his eyes just filled with regret and sadness

Much later, Jaune stepped out of the shower, his body fresh and void of any blood. He was barely covered, only having a pair of boxer briefs and a tower draped over his shoulders, showing off his impressive physique. His eyes fell onto his bed and they widened in surprise.

There lay a katana completely sheathed in a black scabbard, its handle a cross of white and black. He looked at his Devil Bringer, and could sense that there were no demons nearby. But still, he was apprehensive. He approached the sword with caution and reached to it slowly.

When nothing happened, he picked it up and pulled it out, revealing the blade to be a shade of icy blue with a tint of black, and the tsuba having patterns of a wolf head and snowflakes. The katana… It reminded him of-

"Fenris?" he called out, almost pleadingly. To his surprise, the blade lightly glowed. Jaune smiled sadly as he slowly sheathed back the katana into its scabbard, and absorbed it into his arm. "You really are the best pet a man could have ever wished for. Thank you."

* * *

Back at the dungeon, Red opened his eyes and frowned deeply. Having sensed Glassare's passing. "So, ice has fallen, along with creation. And they boasted to have been strongest together, how laughable."

"We've already lost someone?" asked a female voice.

Two figures emerged out of the shadows and faced Red. The woman was beautiful, and had golden blonde hair tied up into a large bun, with a large bang sticking out that covered the left side of her hair. The other person had wavy brown hair, with a large twisting bang that hung in front of his face, almost like a noodle. His eyes could not be seen, as they were hidden by a pair of shades.

"Mature. Noriaki." he greeted. "Yes. It is unfortunate, but Spettro and Glassare are dead at the hands of our enemy. But, it's not our worries. Now, what news do you bring me?"

Noriaki bowed tensely, almost afraid. "Forgive me, but as unfortunate as it is, I was not able to find our brother who wields the earth."

It was obvious that wasn't the answer that Red had wanted. A blast of energy burst from his palm and struck Noriaki, causing him to writhe on the ground in pain as he screamed in agony. Mature could only watch in sympathy as her comrade was punished. A moment later, and Red stopped, allowing the man to breathe. He grunted in dismissal and turned to the blonde.

Getting the signal, Mature went next. "Azura has gone AWOL unfortunately. Last we spoke, she told me how close she was to locate the lost heir of the Yagami clan. Other than that, she's gone off the grid."

"An unfortunate matter, but we must press on. The two of you rest up. Vice will make her move on these insect soon, and I expect results from her."

The both of them bowed and walked away, leaving Red by himself to ponder on their next move.

* * *

**In all perfect honesty, I had fun writing this chapter the most. Mostly because the White Album fight in Part 5 was my favorite. Although, I apologize for the lack of ice puns. I'm not cool enough to do them. Making them chills me to the bone. **

**So, anyway, another of Orochi's minion is dead, Fenris is also unfortunately dead, and Jaune seems to have gained something...? All will be revealed.**

**Now, Dante's girlfriend has been revealed! And yes, she is exactly who you think she is! And I regret absolutely nothing. Once again, thanks for all your support, and review if you've any questions.**


	16. Welcome to Limbo

In the middle of night, a woman with short, blood red hair walked up to a large house that was completely in ruins. She wore a black and red business woman's outfit that clung onto her tightly, with her cleavage being shown. She entered the wrecked home and could immediately tell it had been ravaged by flames years ago.

The woman raised her hand into the air and a black orb materialized into the palm of her hand. She waved it around in different areas, until it started to become dimmer. Right in front of the scorched closet door. Out of nowhere, vines whipped out of the darkness and tried to entangle her. The woman, Vice, grinned evilly as she caught the vines and pulled on it, revealing the vines to have been coming from a strange purple-ish black plant, the size of a watermelon.

"My, oh my. I didn't think there'd be one this big hiding in here. Oh, this is good~ This is definitely good~! And an opening's just right behind it too! "

Vice smirked. She threw the plant right back where she found it then crushed the orb and spread its contents throughout the entire home, until it was essentially coated with the stuff, the closet door having most of it. But then, it clearly disappeared, with the weird plant being hidden by the mist. Vice nodded, the set up now complete.

"If things go as planned, we'll be able to capture Dante~ I can't wait to have fun with them!"

Vice started to cackle in twisted amusement, her eyes turning a dark shade of purple as she faded into the shadows.

* * *

Dante blinked, finding himself in an area of darkness. He narrowed his eyes in apprehension and went to grab his weapons…only to feel nothing. The Son of Sparda was surprised as he didn't have anything on him. Not even a Devil Arm in his hammerspace. The white-haired half-devil looked up, the darkness now being shone down on by a light.

Dante looked around, and still saw nothing. Then, he felt something sticky on his boot. He looked down and raised a brow as he saw a pool of blood below him. He followed after the trail and took a step back in terror to see Trish and Lady's mangled bodies before him. Dante shook his head, not believing it.

He spun around and grew even more surprised to see Jaune's body pinned to the wall in a crucifix manner, the life in his eyes completely faded. Refusing to believe that any of it was real, Dante ran deeper into the darkness, trying to make sense of what was going on. But as he kept on running, many corpses littered the hall. All of Vergil's daughters, along with their mother, having been brutally murdered.

The Legendary Devil hunter stopped in his tracks, his face contorting into that of horror as he saw Cereza, impaled with prejudice, her arms wrapped around an equally dead Ren, his eyes widened in agony as he tried to reach out to Nora's severed halves.

"No…" he breathed out, taking a step back in disbelief. "This is just a dream… it has to be." he concluded. It was nigh impossible for any of them to have been killed.

But the horror wasn't done yet. The entire room broke apart and shifted to that of his old home. Dante could feel his heart jump and start to pump more quick than it should. The devil hunter tried to calm himself down and not panic in being back. Back in where it all started. Taking a few quick, but deep breaths, he managed to calm himself down.

Until the place erupted into flames, actually making him scared. How many times has he had this dream, he thought. How many times did he need to relive the damned nightmare that scared him for so many years?

"**_Dante…"_**

The cambion felt his hair stand up as he heard a voice speak to him. No…it couldn't be.

"**_Where have you been… Why haven't you visited me?"_**

Dante gulped and slowly turned himself around and could feel his heart thump loudly against chest, as there stood in front of them was his mother, Eva. But her face was completely molten off, as if it had just been dumped into a pool of flames.

"**_I've been so lonely… Why did you and your brother leave me to die…?"_**

When he didn't respond, the twisted apparition of his mother jumped at him, growing demonic in nature as she hissed in his face.

"**_WHY DID YOU ABANDON ME?!"_**

* * *

Dante screamed and sat up his bed. He panted, taking notice that he was no longer dreaming, and was back in his comfortable bed. He placed his hand over his head head, still reeling from what he had just dreamed about. The devil hunter flinched, feeling a hand touch his shoulder.

"Is there something wrong, luv?"

The white-haired devil hunter looked to his right and saw his girlfriend rise up from her side of the bed, rubbing her eyes as she looked at him quite worriedly. Dante turned away, not wanting her to see his pained look.

"Nothing. It was just a dream, babe. Go back to sleep."

Cereza frowned, inching closer to him. "It sure didn't sound like one. It sounded more like a nightmare." She wrapped her arms around his bare chest and pulled him closer to her equally naked breasts for a comforting embrace. "We've talked about this, luv. You can't keep on bottling up your emotions. It's not healthy for you. Come on, you know you can tell me anything."

For a long moment, Dante kept silent. He thought it over, and before letting out a sigh and recounted the event.

"I was…in a room of darkness. Everywhere I went, I found dead bodies. Every one of you guys. Then, it turned into my old house. Mom was there, and she kept on asking me why I abandoned her. Why did me and Verge leave her. How she's been so lonely. I don't… I don't understand what's it supposed to mean. It was different from the regular nightmares that plagued me. It was just a replay of Mom's death, but this? It's different. Why? I mean, I finally avenged her!"

Cereza mulled over the details she was presented and the facts the she knew of.

"Maybe it's because you need closure? Yes, you've killed her killer, but when was the last time you've visited her resting place? I think you just need to make one visit to your old home, and talk to her in spirit. It might do you some good, and take away some of the baggage you've been carrying for so long."

Dante looked up in surprise. It…made an amount of sense. Partly the reason why he was so hesitant in the dating game was because of his emotional baggage. But meeting Jeanne and her family helped alleviate some of it. Maybe, this was just the thing he needed.

The Son of Sparda craned his neck and planted a quick peck on Cereza's lips, a smile on his face. "Thanks, bae. I really needed that."

She smiled back and pulled the covers over them as they both returned to slumber.

* * *

Jaune knelt down and gently brushed his hand across the gravestone, a sad smile on his lips. The day after his skirmish with Glassare, he made due with his promise and gave Fenris a proper burial. He was assisted by friends, who had brought along flowers to decorate his friend's resting place, which was now stuck in perpetual cold due to their fight. Unfortunately, Pyrrha had to leave, having been called for a modelling shoot, while Kyrie needed to get back at the orphanage she was helping out.

"Thanks for helping out, Ren. It really means a lot." he said, expressing his gratitude.

Dante's adopted son smiled and patted the blond by the shoulder. "It's nothing, Jaune." responded Ren. "Fenris meant a lot to you, almost like family. It's only natural that we helped out."

The Arc Devil stood up and clasped arms with him, smiling. "Thanks, cousin."

The two looked up, hearing the sound of someone approaching. They around and saw Dante walking up to them. "Good, the two of are you here."

"What's up, Uncle D?" greeted Jaune, while Ren went to his dad and gave him a one-armed hug. "You got a mission you need us for?"

Dante shook his head. He opened up his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the right words. This repeated for a couple of more times, until Dante just grunted and threw his arms up in frustration. Jaune and Ren looked at each other with raised brows, confused at how the man was acting.

"Is something the matter, dad?" asked Ren. "You seem a little tongue-tied."

"I'm fine. It's just, I figured it's time I'd take you both to somewhere special. The place where it all started…" he finished a bit ominously. Dante held out his hand to his nephew and gave him a look. "I need to borrow the Yamato for a quick second, Jaune. If we use her, it'll take us only a second to get there."

Obliging his uncle, Jaune held out his Devil Bringer and it glowed brightly, the Yamato materializing into his hand. He handed over his father's sword to his uncle, whom nodded gratefully. The Son of Sparda drew her out of her scabbard and made two swift incisions in the air. They expanded and formed a portal, Dante sliding back the katana into its sheath. Looking at the two teens, he cocked his head at the portal, and the three of them stepped in.

* * *

Jaune and Ren looked around in mild curiosity, wondering why Dante had taken them to a burnt down house. The red-clad devil hunter walked up to the entrance, reeling a bit in disbelief that the house was still slightly sound.

"I can't believe any of this is still standing."

He walked in, prompting the two teens to follow suit. The three carefully walked through the ruined building as to not have it crumble down on them. The two still didn't get exactly why they were taken here. It wasn't until Dante stopped, to gaze at painting above a fireplace. It contained three people - a woman , her husband, and her two sons. Ren and Jaune stepped forward, immediately recognizing the woman.

"Grandma Eva…" they muttered together. The two of them finally realized what Dante had meant.

"This…" started Ren, gesturing to the entirety of the building. "is your childhood home, isn't it? Way back before you became a devil hunter, this is where you and Jaune's father lived with Grandma Eva."

A sad smile encompassed Dante's face as he nodded, reminiscing all the good memories when he was a kid. "That's right. I can still vividly remember the times mom would just pick me up and Vergil, and read us a story by the fire, while we ate some cookies she had baked." he remembered fondly.

Dante approached the burnt closet doors. The location where his mother had placed him so he wouldn't have been discovered by the demons that attacked their home. A cloud of maliciousness began to surround him, as the event began to play over his mind. From the shadows, the plants stretched out to Dante and completely wrapped around him, attaching itself to his chest and pierced his heart.

Much to the confusion of the two cousins, the surrounding area erupted into flames. Jaune straightened up and pulled out Red Queen, looking around apprehensively.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked out loud.

Ren ran up to his father, noticing what was coming out of him. "Dad! What's the matter?" He gasped as his hand passed through the older cambion's body. "Huh?" And then Dante faded away, like a wisp of light, along with the plant. "What the-?!" exclaimed Ren.

Before any of them could question it, a woman suddenly ran pass them, carrying something as she headed straight for the closet door. She carefully opened it up and placed something inside of it, before closing it.

"You need to hide, Dante. No matter what happens, you mustn't leave! I need to find Vergil. I promise I'll be back. I know this is hard. You must listen to me. Be a big boy... A man, huh? If I don't return, you must run. By yourself, you must change your name. Forget your past and start a new life as someone else... A new beginning."

The woman turned around, revealing herself to be their grandmother, Eva. Jaune and Ren looked on in shock and awe as she ran pass them once again, looking around as she screamed her first son's name.

"Vergil?! Where are you, Vergil?!"

A pair of demons crashed down from the floor above, causing Eva to fall down, looking at the two apprehensively. The demons looked like twisted shadows, surrounded by blood red outlines. They towered over the blonde, looking at her with a sadistic grin as they brandished their claws. Eva screamed as the two lunged right at her.

"Grandma!" cried out the two cambion teens.

While Ren remained motionless, Jaune rushed up and reached out to her to try and save their grandmother. However, much to his horror, like with Dante earlier, his arm just went through her. And to add even more surprise, the demons struck him as well as Eva. Jaune slid back, before stomping down his foot to stop himself, with Eva having been cut down. The two shadow-like demons laughed at him, before being pounded to oblivion via light-infused ground pound with Beowulf.

The cousins looked down, feeling a sad sensation overcome them. To see their grandmother die in front of them and not be able to do anything about it… Is this what Dante felt years ago? The two looked up, seeing the entire house crumble down.

Not naturally. It was as if reality was being distorted and torn apart. The floor broke off into numerous platforms, while some flat out disappeared and was replaced with an endless abyss. Ren was unfortunate enough to be standing on one that disappeared, and promptly fell. With Jaune's quick reaction, he caught his cousin with his spectral arm and pulled him up to the platform he was on. The both of them looked around and found that despite its more twisted appearance, everything seemed more…vibrant.

"The hell is this place?" voiced out Jaune.

"**You're inside of Limbo." **The two swiveled around, and saw Vice standing in the air. The tanned redhead laughed maniacally as she looked down on the two with a slightly crazed look. **"The name's Vice. I'm the Throbbing Sadistic Beauty of Lord Orochi!"**

The two of them tensed up once they heard they were facing another of Orochi's Eight Heads. Vice leered at the two, all the while she stretched out and posed, which seemed to emphasize her busty curves. Ren and Jaune ignored this in favor of glaring at the woman.

"What do you mean 'Limbo'?"

Vice looked sarcastically surprised. **"Oh my. Dante's never taught you about this place? Then I've no place in telling you all about it! Good luck getting out of here, because it's highly unlikely you'll survive!"**

With one last cackle, Vice wrapped herself in shadow and disappeared. Jaune and Ren grunted, trying to figure out where to go. The latter looked up, seeing a doorway out. He grabbed the former's attention and pointed right it.

"I see." responded Jaune. "Come on. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can figure out how to find Dante."

Ren agreed. With their superhuman abilities, they easily leaped from platform to platform, getting to the doorway effortlessly. They pushed it open with no resistance…only to find themselves just outside of the house and into the open area around Red Grave City. Just like inside, the streets before them looked twisted, yet more vibrant. The two of them dropped down onto a lower platform, looking around with questions on their minds.

However, these wouldn't get to be answered, as a horde of demons rose up and barred their path. Jaune clicked his tongue in annoyance and went for Red Queen, instead of Beowulf. "You gonna get in our way, huh? Well then!" He twirled around the large blade and stabbed it into the ground. The blond grinned and revved it up. "Time to party!"

Jaune rushed forward and swung himself in a 360 degree angle, sweeping up his enemies and slicing them to bits. He jumped up and streaked towards them, striking them with a heavy blow. The blond kicked himself up further into the air then propelled himself down Red Queen, eviscerating the poor demons that was below him.

Jaune twisted himself into the air, dodging some of the projectiles the demons sent his way. Channeling his energy into his sword, he borrowed another move from his uncle. He hurled Red Queen at another group of oncoming demons, and shredded them up as it spun around like a deadly top.

While that was being dealt with, the Son of Vergil turned to his cousin, looking at him with a questioning gaze. "You gonna join in, or what?"

Ren sat down onto a piece of rubble, shaking his head. Jaune sighed, calling back his sword to him. It really confused him how Ren refused to fight at the first given option. At every job that he accepted, it always only involved exorcism. Demon exterminations were handled by everyone else. The Arc Devil ran up to face some more of the other demons that started to materialize, leaving Ren all alone.

The Son of Dante watched as his friend dealt with their enemies with ease, all the while enjoying it. He looked down, making him wonder himself why he wasn't jumping in. Simple, he hated it. The feeling of your own flesh striking another, it made him shiver. Because it reminded him of what Agnus had planned for him. And he hated being reminded of him. That's why, he had resigned to sitting by the sidelines.

Jaune whooped out loud as he rode jumped over another horde, revving up his Exceed. He ran forward and wildly swung around his blade, launching some of the demons skyward, while the others had their limbs bifurcated and burned. Leaping back, he drew out Blue Rose and fired off a Charged Shot, reducing them to ashes.

Before he could he celebrate, numerous tendrils wrapped around his wrists, forcing him to drop his weapons. "What the-?!" he exclaimed in surprise. More tendrils appeared and restricted his legs, disabling him of movement.

Jaune was pulled back into the arms of two scantily-clad females. They had unnaturally pale skin, bat-like wings protruding behind their backs. And they were beautiful, quite so that a normal man or Faunus would have been enthralled by their looks alone.

"**Oh my~ Look at what we've caught, dear daughter~" **said the more mature looking one in an alluring tone.

The other woman flew around the captive blond, inspecting him from head to toe, and even took a few sniffs of his scent. Then, most unexpectedly, she licked his face, which made Jaune shiver a bit. She giggled, flying much more closer into range.

"**That scent~ That taste~ There's no doubting it, it's like Sparda's~"**

Jaune gritted his teeth, struggling to free himself. _"Crap, these two are succubi!"_ But somehow, their tendrils were far stronger than what they appear.

The two giggled melodically, circling around the trapped blond. **"It's useless to try and escape. Once you're snared in-"**

"**You might as well brace yourself for what's gonna be the best moment of your life~"**

The both of them grabbed Jaune's face and forced him to look in their eyes. The Son of Vergil growled, trying to resist their enticement as his mind kept on playing images of his girlfriend to stave off their advances. But even he was not immune, as soon, his defense crumbled and was placed in a trance. Had he kept himself conscious for a bit longer, he would've noticed that Kyrie flashed into his mind, besides her sister. Laughing in triumph, the two of them prepared to have their way with him.

Ren looked up, his eyes widening in shock. "Jaune." he muttered under his breath. He looked on in horror as the two succubi slowly strip Jaune, clearly enjoying what they were seeing. Ren shook his head. "No. This is wrong. Jaune's strong. Any moment, he'll break out and take care of them."

And yet, as the minutes passed, the blond remained unmoving and dormant, making the former Lie mentally panic. There was no one, other than them. Looking down on his hands, clenching it tightly, Ren sighed and made his decisions.

Jumping towards the two, Ren flying kicked one of them away, before moving onto to the other and delivered a whirlwind kick, sending her back. Before the two could recover, Ren performed a quick palm thrust and sent out a sharp gust of wind that struck their bodies, sweeping them away.

Ren ran up to his cousin, helping him stand to his feet. However, the two had composed themselves and grew enraged at being interrupted. They conjured up purple orbs and shot them right at the two. Quickly slipping into a stance, Ren focused as a pink light exuded from his body. Narrowing his eyes, he started spinning around.

"**Rotating Heaven!"** he announced, the name of technique.

It repelled off the attack, all the while creating a protective shield around himself and Jaune. The two succubi were struck by their own attacks, making them shriek in pain. Deciding to end things, Ren pulled something out of his pocket. A white, crystalline-like shape. It was Dust.

The Son of Dante crushed it, and he could feel its energy flow into him. Leaping into the air, Ren thrust his both of his hands forward, and a large gale began to move directly towards him, bringing along the two seductive demons.

"Jaune, get ready!" warned Ren.

Having recovered enough, he equipped himself with Beowulf and got in front of his cousin. As soon as they got near, Jaune started his assault, angrily pummeling the two succubi, completely pissed at their attempts of seducing him. Cocking back his arms and charging up the gauntlets with his energy, Jaune roared, before calming down and performing the infamous one-inch punch on both of them, causing the two to explode.

Sighing, Jaune fell down, taking a bit of a breather. He looked up at his cousin, smiling at him. "What made you change your mind?"

"I couldn't stand idly by as you were being forced against your will with those two harlots. You would have never forgiven yourself if they had managed to get their way with you. I didn't want that. Like I said earlier, we're family, and family helps each other."

Grinning, Jaune clasped Ren's arm, pulling himself up. "Now that's what I wanna hear."

The cousins looked worriedly as the purple light erupted from their bodies. Nothing else was said as the light was consumed by the darkness, before pulled out, revealing a copy of the two of them, but for distinction their hair was inverse. Jaune's copy had golden blond hair and white tips, while Ren's had fully pink hair, with one black streak.

"Deathvoid, the Shadow Demon?" asked Jaune, fully aware of his uncle's encounter with the creature.

His doppelganger blinked, looking a bit unsure. "No… At least, I don't think so? Pretty sure I don't have the inexplicable urge to kill any of you, right now."

"Same here." concurred the duplicate Ren. "As far as we know, we're our own person… But, we also still have your memories."

As soon as that was said, the darkness returned and enveloped them. The two copies screamed in pain, as they began to change. Slowly, they began to turn completely shadow-like, their eyes glowing red with cracks spreading across their skin, like they were breaking down. Vice appeared on the top of a building, looking down on them with a grin.

"**You two know what to do. Show no mercy!" **she ordered.

The two rose up from the ground, staring at their respective original with a menacing look. Jaune tossed Red Queen to his cousin, completely aware of his lack of weaponry. But before he could equip Beowulf, his doppelganger charged and dragged him off somewhere else, while Ren's forced him to his knees by summoning a tornado that sucked up all of his air.

The Son of Dante clenched his eyes tight, before expelling out his own gust, causing the tornado to disperse, allowing him to catch his breath. His doppelganger, and for clarification's sake we'll call him Lie, gathered Aura into his hand and released it along the ground, creating a wave of wind energy.

"**Reppuken!"**

Ren kicked himself up into the air and copied what Lie did, but instead fired it like a fireball.

"**Shippuken!"**

However, it was a bit more slow, allowing the doppelganger to dodge it with ease. The two circled each other in a stand off, Ren having focused his mind to do battle and ignore the disgust that he felt. Lie went first and sent out a punch. Ren blocked the attack and successfully delivered a palm thrust to his copy's chest. He quickly followed it up with a flurry of precise strikes to his body, and ended with a double jab that sent the shadow flying straight in the building.

Lie pushed himself out and spat out drill-shaped bullets from his mouth, all made of wind. Ren grunted and weaved around the projectiles, before being unfortunately struck by on the arm. Taking advantage of this, the shadow dashed forward and grabbed the original by the face. He spun around and threw him up into the air. Charging up his fist, he sent out a blast of gale at him, flinging him across and slamming right into a car.

"**Pathetic loser."** called out Lie, having using the wind to speedily approach carry him to his counterpart. **"You're not even giving your all. You're still holding back. Imagine what would happen had Nora been incapacitated, and you're the only one who could help her. What then?"**

Ren gritted his teeth, glaring at his shadow. "Don't… Talk about Nora as if you know her."

He cried out in pain as Lie stomped down his foot on his chest. **"Were you even listening earlier? I have your memories. Of course I know her. But you still haven't answered my question. What? Do you really think that she can beat anything. Are you that naive?!" **With his declaration, he brought down his foot once more. **"Come on, and actually fight back like you mean it!"**

The doppelganger snatched him by the collar and kneed him on the stomach, before slamming his head down on his knees. Lie spun around and performed a roundhouse kick that disoriented Ren, allowing him to butterfly kick him into the air. As the original fell down, the shadow gathered his Aura through his hands once again.

"**Rising Storm!"**

He slammed down his palms on the ground, and channels off strong wind gusts shot out of the ground and struck Ren repeatedly, almost like a shredder. He cried out in pain and was flung across the street. The Son of Dante winced, pushing himself up.

* * *

With Jaune, he wasn't having as much trouble like his cousin. In fact, he was kinda enjoying himself fight his doppelganger, whom he had been calling 'Nero', because he couldn't quite figure out a better name. He jumped from platform to platform, evading the shadow's bullets from its own copy of Blue Rose. Nero fired off a Charged Shot, destroying the pillar that Jaune was under.

The blond looked up, before smirking. Spinning around, he sliced the stone structure into pieces with Beowulf. As a response, Nero did the same thing, but his glowed violet and instead of white. The two charged and met in the middle, sending out numerous attacks that canceled out each other. The problem of sharing the same set of memories and moves. You have almost the exact style.

This fact irritated the two of them, as every attack they made was evened out by one similar to it. And this had been happening for the past minutes, or so. Both of them roared and their charged up fist met in a clash, causing a shockwave to obliterate the surrounding area and a spiderweb-like crab to appear on the ground.

Nero then jumped back, much to Jaune confusion. The shadow grinned and drew out his copy of Red Queen, which the blond was currently missing. The copy revved his blade and crashed down on Jaune, creating a large gash on his chest. Quickly, he delivered numerous strikes and slashes, while the sword was wreathed in black flames.

Performing a rising slash, Nero summoned out his own ethereal arm and slammed Jaune back down, before impaling him with his blade. He spun the blond around like a ragdoll, before flinging him across the streets and right into a poor street light.

Jaune groaned before forcing himself up. The copy chuckled and enshrouded himself in darkness, sliding up to Jaune for an overhead strike. The original recovered but couldn't block it in time, and so, caught the tip with his hands instead. Nero grunted and was about to pull back, when all of a sudden, his Red Queen was now completely encased in ice.

"**What the-?!"**

Both Jaune and Nero cried out in surprise at this sudden development. The Son of Vergil looked down at his arm, and saw that it had become white, just like last night after he had absorbed the White Album's ice core.. "Did I…absorb Glassare's powers?"

"**What is this?! How come I have no memories of this?!"**

With a new avenue open for him, Jaune smirked. Pulling his arm, he shattered the frozen weapon, its fragments piercing the confused doppelganger. Jaune roared and fired out another beam of ice, and it perfectly froze up the shadow. Equipping Beowulf on his person once again, he went on the attack and barraged his counterpart with numerous blows, not giving him any time to recover. Cocking back his arm, he delivered a vicious uppercut that almost broke his neck.

Generating ice once more, Jaune shot it at the ground, and a stalagmite materialized. Nero fell on the ice structure and was impaled in the stomach. Turning his arm back into its original color, he grabbed his shadow with his spectral arm and Bustered him. Jaune flung him into the air, before grabbing him and doing a piledriver midway.

Switching back to ice, he completely encased Nero in it to the point he looked like an ice statue. Jaune hummed in satisfaction, gazing at his arm in awe. Looking yonder, Jaune could see Ren being given no room to attack nor defend. Getting an idea, Jaune broke into a run, before shooting out a beam of frost onto the ground continuously, allowing him to slide and get to the platform at a much more easier pace.

"W-woah!"

He just had to keep his balance.

* * *

Ren panted as he feebly tried to stand up. Luckily, his Aura soaked up most of the damage, but he did start to feel a bit weakened. Shaking his head, Lie kicked back down his counterpart. The shadow looked down on him in disappointment.

"**I feel ashamed that you and are I supposed to be two sides of the same coin. You're really pathetic." **He grabbed him by the neck and forced him to his knees. **"But that's alright. Maybe I'll just wear your skin and take your place. Maybe Nora would like that, huh? A man that actually likes action, and isn't a fucking sissy!"**

Lie roared and his arm began to vibrate. He prepared to plunge his arm deep into Ren's chest, but was interrupted with a sword to the chest. He looked down and roared in confusion, seeing that he had been stabbed with Red Queen…by Ren.

"Not much of a sissy now, huh?!" shouted Ren.

He revved up the Exceed on his cousin's blade, burning the inside of counterpart. Ren pulled it out harshly and took a page from his father, he quickly struck at his shadow, before unleashing a Quick Drive shockwave that pushed back Lie. Before the doppelganger could recover, he was quickly encased in a block of ice, courtesy of Jaune, who slid right into the scene.

"Hey, did you really have to get yourself beat up a lot? Nora's gonna break my legs for that, you know?"

The Son of Dante let out a small chuckle, willing his body to get to healing. "Considering our copies are us, but seemingly more ruthless, I had to get his guard down to get a good hit. I'm sure a kiss from me will calm her down. By the way, what's up with your arm?"

"Oh. Yeah. This. I… don't know, really. Just that I got it after I killed Glassare. And from the looks of it, I can shoot out ice and make some stuff with it."

"What are you gonna call it?" asked Ren.

This gave Jaune pause and actually consider. "Not that good with naming things." he admitted.

"Hmm. What about Ice Breaker?"

"That works."

The two turned around and saw Lie break out from his cold prison, and was soon joined by Nero, who had also recovered. The cousins grunted and slipped into a stance.

"Let's end them." they said together.

Growling, the two shadows charged. To their surprise, they switched targets, so now Ren dealt with Nero, and Jaune got Lie. The shadow of the blond traded strikes with Ren, continuing to wield Red Queen. Though they seemed match, Ren knew he had the disadvantage, having less experience in using the large blade. But he didn't let this deter him.

Nero pulled back and tried to perform a Streak, but Ren caused him to stop and flinch with a blade of air. Taking advantage of it, Ren dashed forward and took a page from his father, performing a seaming barrages of sword strikes and did a Dance Macabre, but instead of ending it with three charged up strikes, Ren raised up his hand and summoned out a tornado below Nero, sucking him in then tossed him right into a house.

Jaune grunted as he blocked against Lie's attacks. He parried against his punch and twisted his arm, then pulled him for a savage right hook. The Arc Devil followed it up with a backhand, and spun around then shoved him into a car window, shattering it, before doing it again on the other one. He manhandled the doppelganger and rapidly jabbed him on the side, until he heard his ribs shatter. Jaune pushed him back then clotheslined him, knocking him down.

"**This…doesn't make any sense!" **cried out Lie.

The Son of Vergil picked him up, and turned to Ren, who gave him a nod. Jaune gave Lie one last punch, causing him to stumble right into Ren.

"You're within range." he declared. Ren focused, as a strong wind billowed, his Aura shrouding out of him. He lunged at Lie and began delivering powerful strikes and swift kicks to his doppelganger's pressure points, making things much more painful. **"Deadly Rave!"** Ren finished. He performed a double palm thrust, his hands coated in pink energy.

Lie's eyes widened as he felt his insides be shredded. The doppelganger screamed in agony as he was reduced to nothing but a puddle of goop. Nero, who had witness it, bit down a curse. He panicked, seeing the two looking at him. Before he could even try to run, Jaune Snatched him. The Son of Vergil stared at his copy and crushed him. To his confusion, the Devil Bringer glow brightly and consumed Nero. When the light died down, the shadow was gone.

From her location, Vice sighed and dropped down, looking ticked off.

"**Of course. If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself."**

In high speeds, Vice stretched out her arms and struck them then pierced their chests. The sadistic woman grinned and pulled them towards her, scraping them against the floor as rushed forward a fair distance, then threw them off. The pair grabbed onto each other as Ren summoned a gust of wind, pushing themselves up onto ground.

Vice dropped down on them and pounced on Ren. Hissing like a cat, she began to viciously claw at his stomach, to the point she was tearing off his skin. Jaune promptly kicked her off, letting Ren breath. He darted towards her and went on to unleash a flurry of kicks, only for Vice to counter him with her own. She kicked him at high speeds, her legged enveloped in cutting aura that lacerated him.

"**Time to die!"**

Vice somersaulted behind him and grabbed Jaune by his neck with her feet. Grinning, she vaulted back thrice, slamming the blond on the ground repeatedly. As the finisher, she tossed him into the air and leaped into the air, doing a powerbomb that generated a pillar of red death.

The femme fatale got off of him and flung him into a building, causing it to crumble down on him. She laughed haughtily at Jaune trying to stand as he bled profusely. She slowly walked up to him before being sent flying with a wind-generated punch from Ren. He checked on his cousin, making sure that he would live. Turning back to Vice, Ren scowled at her and crushed another Wind Dust for more power.

Roaring, he bolted off and delivered a jab to her face and a punch to the stomach before giving a palm to the nose that broke it. He followed it up by kicking her stomach and delivered two more strikes to the face before chopping her neck. Finally, he kicked Vice up and sent three punches to her back, the third punch having enough impact to make her ribcage burst, pushing her back.

The Throbbing Sadistic wiped the blood off her lips, grinning like a feral. **"Guess those experiments that scientist did to you prove useful. Show me more!"**

"Where the hell's my father?!" he demanded.

A look of mock realization crossed Vice's face, as she playfully hit herself. **"Ah yes. How did I forget?"**

She flicked her arm and a mist of black materialized, showing Dante shrouded in darkness as the plant continued to grow and creep around him. He was on his knees, his eyes having a vacant look.

"**The moment you all stepped in, he was already snared into my Black Mercy, a plant of unknown origin. It creates a dream of a person's perfect life by tapping into the pleasure centers of their brain, and its keep them perfectly immobilized. It feeds on the energy produced by the victim's interaction with their 'dream' until it's all up. The stronger the person, the more powerful the dream, and the more harder for it is to break them out. And there's nothing you can do about it!"**

Gritting his teeth, Ren grew furious. "You bitch!"

"Ren, no! She's trying to-!"

Unfortunately, his words didn't reach him as the Son of Dante rushed out to her with angry look. Vice smirked, her plan falling into place. She undid her jacket, revealing her shoulders as a glint appeared in her eyes. Then, she faded away, much to Ren's surprise. Before he could react, a torrent of energy materialized and struck his chest. It bypassed his Aura, leaving a deep gash that actually exposed his heart. Before it disappeared, the energy shaped into a spear and stabbed him right in the heart, leaving Ren to gape in horror.

Jaune's eyes widened in terror as Ren fell limp, like a puppet cut from its strings. Vice reappeared, cackling victoriously as the life in Ren's eyes began to fade.

"Ren, no…! Dammit!" he cursed. Jaune gritted his teeth, trying to push himself up, but could only wince in pain and fall back down.

"**It's no use. You and your friend will die here, along with Dante. Stop struggling~"**

Vice extended her arm and swung it at the blond. Jaune just feebly tried to smack it away with his Devil Bringer…and it actually worked? Vice drew back her hand, hissing in pain like a cat.

"**You know what? I think I'll take my time in killing you."**

Although he felt himself slowly slip into death's embrace, Ren used whatever strength he had to weakly call out to Dante, even if it was useless.

"Dad…where are you? Please… help."

* * *

Dante grinned widely, as the sparks flew from the clashing of blades. He pulled back and swung Rebellion widely as he glowed red, pushing back his opponent and forcing them on the defensive.

"Come on, Dante! Kick his ass!" cheered Lady from the sidelines, sitting in the stands along with her fellow devil hunters, the Arc Family and Cereza.

The Son of Sparda grinned at the Walking Arsenal, giving her a mock salute. "Hey, it's basically a hobby now! I'm over him by one on our mutual ass kicking!"

"Your counting is failing you, little brother. You and I are even!"

Standing before Dante was his twin, Vergil, looking perfectly healthy and alive. Not at all evil, or as power-hungry as he was. The Dark Slayer grunted as a nostalgic smile crossed his lips.

"How many times have we fought?" he mused.

Dante hefted Rebellion onto his shoulder, a similar expression on his face. "It's hard to say." he conceded. "It's the only memory I've had of us since we were kids."

"Stop being melodramatic you two, and get back to fighting!"

The Sons rolled their eyes, lightly glaring at the one who just speak. "That's real rich coming from you, father."

At the other side of the stands stood Sparda, who looked a bit sheepish. The Legendary Dark Knight let out a small chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "The two of you know what I meant! You two went away then came back to announce the both of you were getting married. The only times you fought was when you were both still children! Now, get back to fighting so we can have some of Eva's cake."

"Well, with motivation like that-"

"Are you trying to take a jab at my catchphrase or something?"

Dante laughed at his brother's expression, enjoying this time that he was spending. When was the last time the two of them hung out, even? Probably when-

"_Dad…"_

The red-clad devil hunter blinked, hearing his son's voice. He looked at the stands, and saw that Ren was conversing with Nora. But, why-

"_Dad...where are you? Please… Help."_

The devil hunter's blood ran cold as he realized how weak Ren sounded. Vergil looked at his brother in concern, putting down Yamato.

"Is something wrong, Dante?"

Dante ignored Vergil as he remembered what was actually reality. The entire area crumbled down, as everyone vanished in a cloud of dust. But Dante didn't care. He was completely livid that he had been forced into a fantasy even if he did wanted to stay.

He needed to get out. **_HE NEEDED TO SAVE HIS SON!_**

Through sheer will, Dante broke free from the Black Mercy's illusion, burning it and inadvertently transformed into his Devil Trigger. However, something was different. He was definitely more taller, his body almost entirely dark, barring his chest, which remained red, and the glowing cracks that ran along said chest, his hands and inner wings. He gained two ram-like horns on his head, his wings growing longer. Furthermore, Rebellion had seemingly fused with him, turning into some sort of tail.

Growling, Dante rocketed out of his home and slammed right into Vice, sending her streaking right through five cars and into a small cafe. The Son of Sparda regarded his nephew before turning to his son, who had a little smile on his face.

"Dad…"

Ren couldn't say anything else as his eyes closed. Dante lowered his head before focusing on the task at hand. Letting loose a roar, he zoomed right at the wielder of Orochi's darkness and spun into her like a buzzsaw, earning him a scream of pain. The devil hunter picked her up and hurled her out of the building.

Vice pushed herself up, looking fearful. **"H-How did he break out? And, what was that?!"**

"**Wouldn't you like to know?"** growled out Dante as he descended down, his voice twisted and warped, far more demonic than normal.

The Son of Sparda gathered demonic energy into his hands and bombarded her with numerous fireballs. The Throbbing Sadistic weaved around the projectiles, dodging around them. Extending an arm, she swung it a truck and picked it up, launching it at the floating half-devil.

Rebellion still had his sentience, and flicked himself right at the truck, slicing it half with ease. The cambion raised both of his hands and blades of fire sprung out from his wrists. Sneering, he swiped Vice off of her feet and struck her five times, finishing it with a double-Stinger that shoved her far back. Dante glided towards her and grabbed Vice by the throat, launching her into the air. He streaked after her and sent her flying even further with two powerhouse punches. The enraged half-devil flew ahead and caught her with Rebellion, impaling her through the chest. Dante then yanked her off, diving down to crater her into the ground.

Vice groaned in incredible pain, trying to crawl out of the crater she was in. Normally, she quite liked the pain. It made her feel good. But this? It was different. However, before she could even get far, Dante manhandled her up and started going wild. The Son of Sparda held nothing back as he pummeled Vice rapidly, over and over again. One last strike to the jaw sent her catapulting straight into numerous buildings. Before she was even at the end, Dante was already there and charged right at her, driving right her through the walls she just came from.

In a bit of desperation, Vice gathered darkness into her palms and blew it up in Dante's face. The attack managed to deal some damage to him, forcing the cambion to drop down the femme fatale. Like a cat, Vice managed to land on her feet, panting heavily as she cracked all of her dislocated joints back into place, as her wounds began to close up.

"_Dammit."_ she thought. _"The rumors WERE true. Dante truly has surpassed Sparda! I doubt even the boss can hurt him at this point." _She gritted her teeth as Dante recovered, staring down on her. _"You know what? Fuck it. For Lord Orochi, I'll do what it takes for his dream to be realized!"_

Vice lurched back and let out a bloodcurdling scream. Dante tilted his head, letting Vice do whatever she was doing, wanting to make her suffer even more. The Throbbing Sadistic Beauty was enveloped by shadows, her skin turning pure black, numerous white marking covering her entire body, as her clothing and hair glowed vibrantly, along with her eyes becoming purely blood red.

Vice giggled maliciously and amassed all of her energy into the palm of her hands. With a wide grin, she disappeared in a blink as an explosion of claws surrounded Dante, kicking up dust that obscured everyone's view. The dark-wielder reappeared, panting heavily, but looked satisfied. Looking up, she half-expected Dante to be at least injured. But when the dust settled, there wasn't even a scratch on him.

"**W-what? How** is this possible?" she said in disbelief, falling to her knees as her body faded back to being normal.

Dante grunted and raised his hand to the sky. A scorching heat coated his hand, and he crashed it down on Vice, creating yet another crater. Before she could even blink, Dante had started pummeling the woman into the ground. There was nothing stylish about his attack. Only savagery. The demon inside him starting to dominate his humanity. But he didn't care, he just wanted to obliterate the insect that tried to kill his son.

Jaune grunted, pushing off the debris that was on him. Whatever the energy that Vice used earlier on them, it slowed down their healing. He looked over at his uncle, who was still brutally beating up the third Hakkeshu member that they've encountered. He forced himself up and limped toward his prone cousin. As he was about to make some sort of remark, he noticed something wrong with Ren that made his blood run cold.

He wasn't breathing.

"Ren?" he called out. Nothing. Abandoning all thought, Jaune pushed through the pain and rushed forward. "Ren!"

The Arc Devil knelt down besides him and turned him over gently. The life in his eyes had all but faded, his chest wasn't moving, meaning that he was, in fact, no longer breathing. But, he didn't lose hope yet. Carefully, he lifted his arm and checked for a pulse. Jaune prayed that he would get at least a faint one. Alas, his hopes were dashed. Ren was indeed dead.

Tears pricked his face, trying hard not to break down. This was the fourth time…

"Dante! Ren, he's-!"

The Son of Sparda stopped, his fist heavily coated with blood and flesh, when he heard Jaune's voice filled with distress. Hastily, he flew over the two and hovered over his son. Seeing his blank look, and lack of life struck something inside Dante. His DT dissolved, turning back into human.

"Ren?" he softly said, gently shaking his body. "Hey, come on, kid. This isn't funny. Come on, it's time to go home."

No response. Dante bit back down his tears as he trembled. Even if he did want to cry, it wouldn't bring his son back to life. The half-devil blinked, the sound of an all-too-familiar melody reach his ears. He looked up and saw a statue of a woman wearing a lion mask, holding up an hourglass.

A Divinity Statue! Maybe, just maybe.

Dante dashed towards the statue and entered its shop. Immediately, he bought about three Gold Orbs and a couple of Vital Stars. Once done, he rushed back to Ren and held the orb his body, letting it do its work. He turned to Jaune and passed him the Vital Stars, healing up his injuries. Dante focused back to Ren, looking at the Gold Orb intensely as it shattered to pieces and its light spreading across the dead body.

The light faded, and they waited with baited breaths. For what seemed to be an eternity, Ren's eyes slowly gained back its light, eliciting a cry of joy from the two. But then, Ren fell back, looking a bit pale. At first, the both of them panicked, until they felt slightly relieved when they could still hear his heart beat.

"What's going on? A Gold Orb is supposed to instantly heal everything once it's revived its target!"

"I'm not sure, but, maybe it has something to do with that energy that Vice was using. It slowed down my healing, so maybe it's doing the same thing with Ren, as to why he's not fully recovering. He was more exposed to it then I was."

Dante remained silent. He had an idea, and he hoped that it would work. Remembering that he still Yamato with him, Dante summoned out said katana and made another portal. Sheathing her back in her saya, Dante carried his son and hurried into the portal, followed by Jaune.

**_To be continued...? _**

* * *

**Yes. A cliffhanger. Kept you waiting, huh? Not gonna lie, I struggled with this one. Hope the fight was a bit entertaining for y'all. Now, as some of you pointed out, there hasn't been that much RWBY elements, and I agree. Good news. That's why Dust was finally introdcued with Ren using it, and Aura. But, in the next chapter, I guarantee, other RWBY characters will finally be introduced.**

**Oh, and Limbo. **

**Here comes the bad news. I've decided to take a two-week break, so my mojo for this story doesn't burn out like what happened with Lurking Monsters. And, because I also want to do other things besides writing. Hope y'all can understand.**

**Oh, and by the way, the form that Dante uses was the prototype for the DMC4 iteration of the Majin Devil Trigger, which was found for the art book. It was set to appear, but was abandoned due to time constraints, until it was revisited for 5.**

**Originally, Majin is only obtained when extremely low health, but I sort of changed it to unconsciousoy tapping further into his demonic heritage, giving him a stronger power boost. **

**As always, review if you have any questions or need any clarifications.**


	17. Princess and the Scorpion

**EDIT: Sorry for the the two updates, I chose the wrong document then forgot you can just modify it when you manage stories. My bad. Again, sorry. **

* * *

Back in Limbo, inside of the crater that Dante had created, Vice dragged herself out at a snail's pace as she bled profusely, leaving a trail behind her. She growled, both in concentration and frustration, more on the latter. Why, oh why, did she underestimate them? Why did she even toy with them?! And it ended up costing her. Dante was within her grasp, and she coud've easily dispatched Jaune and Ren as-

"Tsk tsk tsk. How disappointing of you, Vice."

The Throbbing Sadistic paled, and it didn't help she was losing a lot of her blood. She looked up and met the eyes of the head honcho of the Hakkeshu, Red, but the common populace knew him as-

"R-Rugal! W-What are you doing here?"

The blond man stayed silent and roughly grabbed her by the neck, lifting Vice up into the air as his blank eye bore into her skull. "You know how much I **_loathe _**failure, correct? And yet you still do it, then have the gall to survive?!"

Feebly, Vice struggled against the large man's hand, trying to free her neck from his grasp. "G-Give me another chance, and I swear, I'll-"

She was cut off. Rugal tightened his grip around her throat, starting to choke the life out of her. He pulled her in close, forcing her to look into his scathing glare.

"No such thing will happen. You either do it in one go, or die trying. There is no third option."

Vice's eyes widened, feeling his hand plunge into her body, more specifically, her heart. The female servant lurched back, gaping as the pain she felt be magnified to thousands. She silently screamed as her eyes became nothing but blank white, before the rest of her body disintegrated, leaving only her beating heart.

Rugal stared at the remaining organ and crushed it, absorbing the purple energy that surged out. The classy man grunted in disappointment as he dusted himself, making sure to perfectly adjust his suit and to wipe off any blood.

"Although I was displeased, I quite liked your company, Vice. A shame, but we must press on for the sake of Lord Orochi."

Turning around, he walked in a portal that had just opened up, leading him back to his lavish penthouse.

* * *

Jaune walked back and forth, obviously panicking quite a bit, muttering numerous things to assure himself that everything was gonna work out. Dante, meanwhile, sat at the rows of chairs, looking at the white floor with a thousand yard stare.

About two hours had passed since he and Jaune had barged in at the hospital Cereza had worked at, carrying Ren's body. He demanded for his girlfriend, since she was once attuned to the supernatural, and could possibly figure out what was happening with his son. When she saw him, she nearly assumed the worst, but her professionalism as a doctor prevented her from making a scene. She wordlessly took him and got to work.

The rest of the Devil May Cry crew rushed in, having been sent a message by Jaune. Seeing Dante unresponsive sort of freaked everyone out, never seeing him in such a state. So, they turned to Jaune to ask just what happened. Once the blond has calmed himself down, he explained.

"Dante took us to his old home. He had planned to finally let go some of the baggage he carried, I guess, but one of the Hakkeshu ambushed us and captured Dante. Long story short, I got incapacitated and Ren was hit with something that didn't let him heal, for some reason. Almost got him killed. Dante dispatched her and we hurried here to get him treated."

Nora had the most obvious reaction, on the verge of getting a panic attack, while the others looked at Dante, worrying for him. Unseen by the others, Jaune wiped a bead of sweat, sighing in relief. Dante told him not tell the others that Ren had really died. He wasn't given any reason, besides that it was best not to tell.

A moment later, Cereza walked out of the room, everyone standing at attention to hear what she had to say.

"Well, Jaune, you were right. There was something inside of Ren. Some sort of dark energy wa invading his body, and slowly deteriorating it. His lack of blood makes things worse."

"Then how much do you need?" Heads turned, looking at Dante, who had finally risen and spoke. "It's worth a shot. Hell, maybe it'll even transfer some of my regenerative abilities. Just," He grabbed Cereza by the shoulders, looking at her desperately. "Please, try. I can't ever lose someone again, babe."

The doctor nodded, assuring him that she'll get it done. Cereza then led him into the room, to perform a blood transfusion.

* * *

Jaune plopped down onto the couch, grumbling. He, Lady and Luna were back at the office, after the transfusion was a success. Dante stayed behind, unwilling to leave. Nora was of the same boat, but was not given permission, and so, she and Trish took a job to help her blow off some frustration.

And as much as he would've wanted to join, he also really wanted to relax for a bit, since he had just gone through a fight recently. But unfortunately, Morrison waltzed through the door, carrying an envelope. He whistled at the three present hunters, getting their attention.

"I know you all wanted to relax, but there's a job. You see, Jacuqes Schnee's second daughter, Weiss, the heiress to the SDC, is set to perform at a charity event tonight. Normally, this wouldn't concern any of you, but she's in need of protection, which is where you three come in. He's decided to hire you as extra security at the event."

Lady groaned out loud. "Ugh. Doesn't that bastard already have enough people to do that for him? The last thing we need is to babysit some spoiled princess."

Let it be known that Lady hated the SDC with a passion for many reasons - it's overall oppressive nature, it's racist views against the Faunus and just Jacques in general. She's heard many things about the businessman, and none of them were good.

Morrison smiled at the hunter. "Oh, there is. But you three aren't gonna be standard security. You'll be blending in with the rest of the guests, enjoying the event. So dress sharp, and comfortable that let's you carry your weapon. So, you guys in?"

"Are we allowed to bring in a plus one?" asked Jaune.

"Oh, don't worry about your girlfriend. She's already an invited VIP, and she's bringing along Kyrie, so you don't need to worry about her."

Looking at his fellow devil hunters, they shrugged, having nothing better to do. Turning to Morrison, Jaune gave the dapper man a smirk.

"Consider that RSVP accepted. We're going."

* * *

At his penthouse, Rugal swished around the wine in his glass, mulling over the future events. As expected of a man his reputation, he had been invited at the charity event that was headed by the SDC. Naturally, to keep up appearances, he accepted. But what appearances? Well, if it wasn't already obvious, Rugal was, in reality, a cold-hearted bastard who loved nothing but power, fighting, and his own evil heart. And it really irked him that he had to act like some sort of refined philanthropist.

But that didn't mean he couldn't spice up tonight's event.

"They're here."

Behind him stood Mature, holding a clipboard. Rugal smirked and took a sip from his glass, snapping his fingers. In the room entered two men that were almost the exact opposite. One was a bit of lanky on the side, his arms garbed in wrists blades, his brown hair reaching up into a ponytail with a bit of strands sticking out, along with a scorpion's stinger, signifying that he was a Faunus. Meanwhile, the other person had a muscular build and stood straight. He had an undercut with blond top hair. From what could be seen, there were no weapons on his person nor traits, so he was a human. And his right arm was kept pocketed.

But, in spite of their differences, they had one crucial similarities - their faces bore sadism and insanity.

"Tyrian Callows and Ryuji Yamazki, how nice of you to drop by." Rugal affectionately petted his pet panther, looking at the two men with a smirk as he explained why he summoned them. "The reason for why you are here is simple - I have a job for the two of you, and I can assure you both that the payment will be up to your standards."

Tyrian smirked back at the philanthropist, absolutely curious as to what he had to offer. "And what exactly is this job, Mr. Bernstein? What does the Richest Man in Remnant want with two assassins? No, the hailed Combat Philanthropist who has funded numerous projects to help advance the world?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want the two of you to kill someone for me."

Snapping his fingers, Mature came back, holding two briefcases. She opened them up, revealing a ludicrous amount of Lien on both sides. This sparked some interest in Tyrian, while Yamazaki cracked his neck and grinned.

"Who exactly do you want us to kill?" he spoke, very chill and cool, with no hint of insanity in his voice.

Rugal intertwined his hands, his smirk never disappearing. "Quite simple really. Tyrian, you'll be tasked in assassinating the Schnee heiress while she's performing. That's the signal for you, Yamazaki, to start your mission. Your job is to cause as much chaos as possible. Kill anyone you want, but leave the Schnee brat to Tyrian. Crystal?"

And then his sadism came in full force, an excited grin appeared on Yamazaki's face, his tongue hanging out, chuckling madly. Tyrian joined him, their laughter decorating the room. Rugal merely raised his glass, signaling Mature to fill it up. Once he took a sip, he looked back at the two men.

"And to top it off, I know that the both of are you looking for something. I might have an inkling as to where they are. Do this, and I'll tell you where. So, do we have a deal?"

Both insane assassins merely displayed their grins, and shook the man's hand as to show their answer.

* * *

**Later that night**

Lady showed the guards outside her credentials, before being let in. As she entered the ballroom, she had to give the SDC credit, and that they knew exactly how to make their parties look absolutely extravagant.

"This must have costed a lot to set up." she muttered under her breath.

Of course, since it was a charity gala, she was required to abide to the dress code if she wanted to blend in. Fortunately for her, Jeanne was nice enough to let her borrow a cocktail dress and coat. Then, a little bit of makeup and lipstick, and she was fabulous. Luckily, she was able to hide Kalinna Ann inside of the building, while her two usual handguns were on her person.

Lady looked around, seeing the guests mingle with one another, talking about things that she didn't bother to listen in on, all the while drinking some champagne. Deciding why not, she called the attention of one of the servers and got herself a drink.

Hey, Morrison said it. They could indulge themselves while on the job, so why not?

"There you are, Lady."

The Walking Arsenal craned her head, seeing Luna walk up to her, holding a glass of wine. She wore long-sleeved black dress, the skirt allowing her legs free movement if ever needed. Paired with that, she wore black stockings, high heels and matching gloves. Unlike her usual style, Luna just had her hair down.

Lady smiled, nodding at her fellow devil hunter. "Hey. Guess you've been here for a while?"

"Mmm." she nodded. "Can't say it's too bad. Food is decent, but nothing compared to mom's cooking. By the way, have you seen Jaune?"

Speak of the devil and he shall come. Jaune waltz up to the two, looking quite classy, sporting a dark blue tuxedo jacket, with a white shirt underneath and a black tie with stripes. He decided to have his slacks black, and topped it off with loafers and a pair of gloves to conceal his Devil Bringer. And for once, his hair was neatly combed.

"Guess I shouldn't have had my hopes up. This is kinda boring." he admitted.

Luna shrug and took a sip from her wine. "Maybe it's an acquired taste. That, or it depends on upbringing. Who knows, really? We got free foods and drinks, and maybe a free show. Might as well make it count, right?"

The two couldn't disagree and didn't put up an argument. Jaune called one of the servers, requesting a mixed drink, which they luckily served. After a moment, the server came back with a Gin Fizz. The blond took the drink and nodded at the woman gratefully.

"I didn't know you actually drink. And since when?" Luna expressed with surprise.

Jaune shrugged, taking another satisfying gulp of his drink. "About a year ago. Dante took me out to a bar in Vale after a mission. Didn't really wanna drink, but I had no choice. He kept on bugging me. And I ended up liking this the most."

Then, out of nowhere, Pyrrha wrapped her arms around him, snuggling into his back. Jaune chuckled and pushed her off, before pulling her in a one-armed hug, kissing her head. Pyrrha wore a red, sleeveless turtleneck dress. A golden chain necklace hung around her neck, a pendant in the middle along with emerald-tipped earrings.

"Hey, you're looking radiant." he complimented.

Pyrrha looked up to him, giving him a mock pout. "Are you implying I wasn't radiant before?"

He offered no response, apart from pulling her in for a chaste kiss and his light chuckle. Pyrrha couldn't help it and started chuckling as well. Luna and Lady rolled their eyes, sipping at their drinks as they watched the two lovebirds.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you, sis."

Jaune broke away from, his girlfriend to look at Kyrie and he couldn't help but blink. She wore a white bodycon dress that hugged around her body, perfectly accentuating her curves. The only makeup that she was was her lipstick, She simply had her hair down, which somehow made her even more beautiful. Clearing his throat, Jaune looked away, a hint of red on his cheeks, which didn't go unnoticed by Pyrrha.

"Damn, Kyrie. You look like you just walked out of a fairy tale book." complimented Lady.

The younger redhead looked sheepish, explaining herself. "I never really thought to pick up a dress whenever we buy for clothes. This was Mom's old dress. I'm just lucky it fits."

"It suits you." complimented Jaune.

Kyrie blushed at the compliment, thanking the boy she loves… Yes. You read that right, but what could she do? He was already dating her sister, and it would be unfair, so she let her happiness aside for them. Shaking her head, the younger Nikos engaged in a conversation with Jaune and Pyrrha, leaving Lady and Luna to explore the gala.

Finally, after an hour, the speakers crackled to life as announcement came through that attracted everyone's attention.

"**Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome… Weiss Schnee."**

There was a brief round of applause as the main star of the charity event finally came into view. A young girl in white, with snow white hair, and azure blue eyes walked to the center stage as a spotlight shone down on her. Jaune raised a brow, a bit surprised at her appearance.

A melancholic melody of a piano began playing, prompting everyone to stop talking. Weiss closed her eyes and began singing.

"Mirror, tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all?"

Once again, Jaune showed surprise. Her voice was like an angel, and yet the words she sang…_ "Appearances can be deceiving. I wonder, does that include a supposed spoiled brat?"_

Then, the music's beat started to pick up, getting a bit energetic.

"Mirror, tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all? Fear of what's inside of me; Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?"

Luna crossed her arms, analyzing the lyrics behind Weiss's song. _"Isolation. Something that should never thrust upon anyone. Jaune felt that when he was young, but because of what happened, he was spared of unhappiness. Is it possible, that this is what you truly feel? Besides Winter, the Schnees don't have that much of a positive reputation __as of late, __with their views against the Faunus. Perhaps, you will be different."_

"Mirror, mirror, what's behind you? Save me from the things I see! I can keep it from the world, why won't you let me hide from me?"

_"I guess it makes sense. Being the heiress of one of the biggest supplier/manufacturer of Dust, there's no doubt she'd be a target to a lot of assassination attempts and whatever traumatizing stuff." _thought Lady.

Jaune hummed in confusion, hearing something creaking. He looked up and his brows shot up, seeing someone hiding within the chandelier. He broke away from his girlfriend and started heading towards the stage, as the song began to reach its climax.

"Mirror, mirror, tell me something, Who's the loneliest of all? I'm the loneliest of all." Weiss finished her song.

The Schnee heiress opened her eyes, being met with a roar of applause from the audience. She smiled and bowed gratefully to them. Looking down, she noticed that her shadow started getting larger. Looking up, her eyes widened as Tyrian descended upon her, his mouth open wide with a crazed grin. Everyone gasped in shock as the assassin got closer to the young heiress.

However a pair of loafers intercepted the scorpion Faunus and dropkicked him away from Weiss. Quickly acting, Jaune drew out Blue Rose and shot at one of the chandeliers. Tyrian grunted in shock as the glass decoration fell down on him. Luckily no one was under it.

As the glass shattered, realization began to dawn on the guests and the entire ballroom erupted in panic, screaming in terror.

"Everyone, get out of here!" ordered Jaune.

Lady and Luna sprung into action, ushering the people out. Pyrrha and Kyrie jumped in, helping the children that were present evacuate. Jaune helped up Weiss and took her to the back. Unfortunately, not all came out unscathed. Yamazaki appeared and managed to bash in the skulls of seven poor souls. Turning around, he drew out his right arm and it blurred and he successfully bifurcated the limbs of three people. The man laughed at the brutality that he caused.

Luna growled and closed both of her palms, the shadows around the assassin springing to life and constricting him. Lady quickly capitalized on the situation and pulled out her own guns, barraging Yamazaki with a rain of bullets. When blood seeped out, the shadows unfurled and let his body drop down.

"Well, that was anticlimactic."

A cracking sound grabbed their attention as Yamazaki rose up from the ground, the bullets holes closing up, much to their absolute surprise. The insane assassin cackled, and sent back the bullets the Lady had fired. Clicking her tongue, the Daughter of Vergil stepped up, summoning her sword and deflected them away in multiple directions. Yamazaki crouched down, leering at the two devil hunters.

Lady threw off her jacket and hefted up Kalina Ann, aiming it at him while Luna spun around Tsukuyomi, turning it into its scythe form. The mad man grunted, standing straight as he rounded his shoulders.

"This isn't gonna be enough for me." he decided.

Frowning, the Walking Arsenal charged up her rocket launcher and fired out two explosives. Grinning, Yamazaki seemingly _erased _the two projectiles out of existence. With their confusion, he surprised them even further by somehow flinging them right back to sender.

Luna acted quickly and used Nyx to erect a shield of shadow around them, blocking the explosion. She flicked her hand, ordering the shadow to split into tendrils and lunged at Yamazaki. With shocking speed and nimbleness, he evaded them, all the while keeping his right hand in his pocket.

The man drew out his hand and caught each and every one of Lady's bullets. Grinning madly, he crushed them to fine dust then used it to blind the human devil hunter. Running up to her, Yamazaki grabbed Lady and started repeatedly headbutting her, with every impact creating a small explosion.

"Get lost, you eyesore!"

From behind, Luna swung her scythe upward, creating a large gash on Yamazaki's back. But instead of crying out in pain, he laughed in joy as he arched back to deliver one final headbutt to Lady. The force behind the attack was so strong, the resulting explosion was far bigger than the earlier ones, and it sent Lady crashing into the buffet table, her Aura shattering.

Luna gaped in shock as Lady lay limp on the debris, unmoving. Yamazaki turned around, a grin slowly crossing his face.

"Now it's just you, and me!"

* * *

Back with Jaune, he kept on dragging Weiss, leading her towards the exit. They didn't get far, however. Tyrian intercepted the two and kicked them away from each other. Jaune dashed and flipped forward, grabbing him by the neck. Somersaulting back, he launched him away and shot at him rapidly.

Tyrian sliced through the bullets, all the while giggling madly. Landing down, he charged forward, slashing at Jaune with wild, yet precise strikes. The Son of Vergil weaved through the attacks, parrying a strike every so often. Clenching his right hand, he uppercut Tyrian in the air, right before summoning out his Buster arm, punching him into the wall with a haymaker. Looking at Weiss, he urged her to escape.

"Get out of here, I'll hold him off!"

Weiss looked a bit hesitant. Nonetheless, she pushed herself up and ran for the exit. As Tyrian slid off the wall, he couldn't help but chuckle, like always. A look of curiosity lightning up his usually insane expression.

"Interesting. I haven't fought someone like you in my entire life. Maybe, this'll prove entertaining!"

With a sudden burst of speed, Tyrian bolted at the blond. Jaune blocked his kicks and sent out his own. He kept on firing Blue Rose, which Tyrian danced around. Unfurling his scorpion stinger, he wrapped it around his wrist and disarmed him. Jaune grunted and flipped through the man's strikes, using his own stinger to pull him in for a left hook. He kicked him by the side multiple times, before delivering a front kick that caused him to stumble back.

Once again, Tyrian giggled, enjoying the fight he was having. His wrist blades folded down, revealing firearms underneath. Reacting quickly, Jaune assumed Royal Guard and blocked the oncoming bullets, building up his Rage. The scorpion Faunus didn't let up, trying to find a weak spot in the, otherwise, Ultimate Defense.

Clicking his blades back into place, Tyrian charged forward with incredible speed and tried to attack him. However, even then, the blond managed to block his every move. This started to irritate the assassin. Growling, he tried one last attack. However, this gave Jaune the advantage, releasing the pent up energy into a Royal Release, jabbing Tyrian in the stomach and sending him skidding against the floor.

The paid assassin grunted, his Aura starting to flicker before slumping back, presumably unconscious. Jaune quirked an eyebrow. A bit disappointed at the result of the fight. Picking up his gun, he walked up to Tyrian and lined up his shot to end his life.

But as one would expect, he wasn't actually knocked out. Tyrian had faked it to get Jaune closer to him for a surprise attack. The scorpion Faunus cackled and extended his stinger to stab Jaune. However, a Glyph materialized in front of the blond and blocked the attack.

"What the?!"

Weiss appeared, now wielding a rapier, revealed to have been the who summoned it. She created another one, but this time, she used it for propulsion. Before Tyrian could react, the Schnee Heiress was already in front of him and delivered a multitude of quick stabs, ending it with a rising slash that sent Tyrian sliding back.

He scraped his blades against the floor, stopping himself from going further back. Jaune looked at the white-haired girl with an angry look.

"What the hell are you doing here? I told you to escape!"

Weiss crossed her arms, looking at him with a slightly haughty expression. "What? No thank you? The least you could do is tell me your name."

For a brief moment, Jaune didn't speak, before giving her a response. "Call me Nero." He focused back on the fight and saw Tyrian pounce at them for an attack. "Look out!"

The Son of Vergil raised his arm, summoning the Aegis Shield to block the attack. He pushed back their opponent and allowed Weiss to strike. The Schnee heiress dashed forward, swinging at Tyrian, whom merely blocked her attacks with his own. Jumping over Weiss, he kicked her on the back of the head then pelted her with numerous jabs to the back, ending it with an elbow strike that sent her crashing through some chairs.

Jaune and Tyrian and ran at each other, engaging in a hand-to-hand fight. Each strike they threw was either blocked or countered, making them evenly matched. The blond grunted as he parried the crazy psycho's elbow, twisting it in a grab. The faunus chuckled and surprised Jaune by shooting him pointblank, riddling him with bullets.

He was very much surprised when his bullets pierced the teen's skin, drawing blood. Weiss pushed herself up and saw this, making her eyes widen in horror. But, much to their further surprise, Jaune didn't seem affected by it despite the blood dripping down his mouth.

Grabbing Tyrian's other arm, Jaune twisted it then kicked him back. He swiftly followed it up with an uppercut, sending him into the air. The Arc Devil jumped after him and barraged him with a multitude of dive kicks, the last one slamming the assassin back down.

The madman grunted, pushing himself up as he looked at Jaune with renewed interest. "How curious… You have these fancy abilities and you don't even have you Aura unlocked? Forget about killing you, I'll just whisk you back to my queen."

Wiping away the crimson liquid, Jaune spat some of it onto the ground and glared at Tyrian. "Sorry, but I'm not the type to bow down and lick someone's boot."

Taking advantage of his distracted state, Weiss spun the chamber on her rapier and glowed red. She swung her weapon twice, releasing two red crescents at the hired gun. Tyrian wasn't able to react in time as he was pushed back. Revolving the chamber once again, this time on yellow, Weiss materialized a Glyph below her. The two mixed and she became much faster.

Darting forward, Weiss barraged Tyrian with numerous attacks, the latter taking the hits. However, in actuality, he was observing her patterns, looking for an opening that he could take advantage of. Soon enough, he saw one. Spinning around, he managed to backhand Weiss, knocking her off her feet.

* * *

Luna did her best to stay calm as she kept on blocking all of Yamazaki's attack. The insane yakuza didn't even move from his spot, his right hand blurring rapidly as it elongated and tried to attack the blonde huntress. Lady was still out of commission on the debris.

Twirling around, she switched back Tsukuyomi into its scythe form. Dashing back, she summoned a shadow tendril and managed to impale his arm, much to Yamazaki's surprise. Luna then proceeded to hack it to pieces, showing no remorse.

Like earlier, he didn't feel pain and instead felt immense pleasure. Yamazaki cackled loudly as his blood poured out. Much to Luna's surprise, he spurted it out and used it to form numerous projectiles, and they were coming in fast. Acting quickly, she used Nyx to ascend in to the air. Channeling energy into her weapon, she hurled Tsukuyomi at Yamazaki like Round Trip.

Grunting, he spilled more of his blood, and it hardened into a pillar that the scythe targeted instead, embedding into the solidified blood. Yamazaki then pried it off and flung it back to its owner. Luna caught it, and was surprised as Yamazaki appeared, having followed after it. He grabbed her by the head and harshly slammed her down, dragging her across the floor before smashing her into it, creating a Luna-shaped hole.

Yamazaki grunted as he grew back his arm. He looked back down and saw that Luna had vanished. Blood spurted out of his mouth as a broadsword stabbed him through the back. Behind him was Luna, a cold look on her face. She harshly ripped out her blade and launched him skyward, following him into the air.

Luna wordlessly struck Yamazaki three times then brought the two of them down with a devastating overhead slash. She dashed forward and continued with her assault, striking him with ferocity and precision, wasting no time with theatrics. The Daughter of Vergil roared and skewered the assassin, swiftly shifting it into a Million Stab, delivering a whirlwind of attacks that blasted Yamazaki right into a wall.

Sighing, she combed back her hair, before sensing that things weren't done just yet. Yamazaki pried himself off, giggling madly as his skin began to turn dark, and his whole hair becoming white. Luna glared at him, making one guess.

"Another one of the Hakkeshu?"

To her surprise, Yamazaki spat on the ground, gazing at her with a scathing glare. **"Don't fucking lump me with those limp-dick bastards! I'd rather kill myself than be one of them!"**

Like an angered bull, he burst forward with astonishing speed and and headbutted her back, creating a medium-sized explosion. Yamazaki elongated his arm and caught her before she could go further. Spinning around, he slammed her through the pillars, whittling down her Aura. Puling her back to him, he grinned and rapidly punched her with his left fist, which was nothing but a complete blur. He quickly switched fists and coated his right with a dark energy, sending a vicious uppercut.

Yamazaki laughed as Luna's Aura flickered, right before shattering. The Daughter of Vergil grunted as she rolled around before slamming down her fist to stop herself. She pushed herself up, some scratches around her body. Instead of getting worried, she smirked instead. Before the madman could react, a bright light erupted from Luna's body blinding Yamazaki. When it finally died down, she had changed.

Pure white, feathery wings sprouted out from behind her back. Her skin turned into a complete white, almost marble-like. Her dress changed, turned that into something completely different. It turned into a long, blue coat with three separated coattails and snake designs, buttoned up. And that was it. From her head, horns have appeared, shaped like a halo. Her eyes lost its pupils, and its colored switched to that of a royal blue.

Luna regarded Yamazaki with disgust as Tsukuyomi glowed vibrantly. She spread her wings and ascended into the air. Grabbing the hilt of her sword, she swung it down, releasing a Quick Drive. Yamazaki absorbed the projectile then sent it back. Luna merely scowled and sent out another one, causing a small explosion. Diving through the smoke, she struck Yamazaki, attacking him with renewed vigor and enhanced speed and strength.

The Nephilim's Daughter roared and shot out lasers from her eyes. Piercing through Yamazaki's body. She grabbed him by the throat and launched him up into the ceiling. Luna lunged forward and struck him with an uppercut, but instead of letting him get launched into the air, she grabbed him by the head, flew up for a bit, before slamming him down.

Luna soared upward, dodging Yamazaki strike. She grunted, deciding to finish things off. She swooped down under Yamazaki and propelled him into the air. Luna zipped through him multiples times, grinding Tsukuyomi through his body as she did so. As the coup de grace, she called out her Summoned Swords and thoroughly impaled Yamazaki with prejudice, crashing him into the ground and knocking him out.

Luna descended and snapped more swords to pin down the mad yakuza, making sure he didn't make any sort of attempt to escape and to double kill him, if need be. She sighed and receded out of her Angel Trigger, combing her hand through her hair.

* * *

Tyrian cackled as he pounced right at Jaune, bringing down his wrist blades on his torso. The cambion grunted as his tuxedo was cut and his chest pierced. The scorpion Faunus grinned and pulled back, then went to cut off his right arm. However, instead of it being sliced off like he expected, he actually found himself struggling against it. The blond glared at the assassin and pulled back his arm, some of the fabric getting torn off as he Bustered him

Jaune grabbed Tyrian by his stinger and started slamming him around like a ragdoll. He stopped for a moment to look at the Faunus before going back at it, then threw him right into the ceiling. The Son of Vergil sighed as the rest of his sleeve fell off, revealing his Devil Bringer.

"Shit. Mom's gonna kill me when she finds out I ruined Dad's suit."

Both Weiss and Tyrian looked at his arm in a mixture of curiosity and confusion. But the former had a hint of fear, while the latter displayed even more intrigue.

"That arm of yours... There's no doubting it, you're a demon!" deduced Tyrian.

"Oh yeah? What about it? Sure, I've demon blood in me, but that doesn't matter. Human, Faunus, demon. Your race doesn't define who you are. It's your actions that reflect it!" Jaune grunted as he swooped back his hair, imitating his father. His arm glowed, a Devil Arm materializing into his hand. The light died down, revealing Fenris. "Now, let's see what you can do, old friend."

Slipping into an Iaido stance, Jaune dashed forward and drew out the ice-based katana, striking Tyrian with a flurry of slashes, all leaving behind a trail of snow. The Son of Vergil grunted and slammed back Fenris into his scabbard.

Tyrian growled and tried to strike at the blond. However, he spun around and deflected it with the sheathed Fenris. He thrust it forward, jabbing the handle into his gut, knocking the wind out of him.

Weiss, after snapping out of her stupor, moved in attack while their opponent was vulnerable. The Schnee heiress ran forward and materialized another Glyph below her. Using it to hasten herself, Weiss zipped across Tyrian left and right, before imbuing her rapier with Water Dust.

Running her hand across the blade, water formed around it, and it turned into a whip-like state. She began lashing at him, whipping down his Aura until it has all dwindled down. Tyrian grinned and caught the water whip, pulling her into a one-armed choke hold. He cackled as both his eyes and left hand glowed a dark shade of purple. But just as he was about to lay it on Weiss, his eyes widened in complete shock as he saw his hand fall down.

Tyrian released Weiss to register the fact that his hand had just been sliced off. He screamed in pain as blood spurted out from his stump.

"H-How is this even-!"

He was cut off as Jaune had appeared behind him, already sheathing back Fenris. Tyrian looked completely horrified as he felt his stinger slide off. His terror was soon wiped off as his rage overtook him. He spun around and fired at the blond with a hateful roar.

Jaune drew out Fenris and twirled around around the blade, catching the bullets and lined them all up on the ground, right before flinging them back to Tyrian. The scorpion Faunus took multiple steps back as the bullets struck. He gritted his teeth, refusing to give up.

The Son of Vergil flicked down Fenris, and numerous Summoned Swords, in Blistering formation, appeared before him. Although, unlike the ones he made with Yamato, these were created with ice. Sliding back his katana into his scabbard, the swords shot fired off at Tyrian. However, out of nowhere he disappeared in a mist of black, and the swords impaled the wall instead.

Jaune blinked in surprise before sighing. He placed Fenris back into his arm and checked up on Weiss, who seemed a bit shook up.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Shaking herself out of state, Weiss nodded, though she seemed a bit out of it. Jaune helped her stand up, letting her lean against him for support. Once she recovered, she pushed herself off before remembering a little tidbit.

"You're hurt." she simply said. "Take off your coat, I'll clean up the wound. It's the least I can do right now."

The blond declined the offer. However, Weiss was insistent and moved to take off his shirt. Jaune rolled his eyes and let her do as she pleased if only to get it over with. As Weiss undid the last button, she parted his shirt and was met with Jaune's chest. The Schnee heiress felt herself go beet red as she stared at his magnificent body. She couldn't help but put her hand to at least feel it once and-

_"Oh Oum, it's like I'm touching a marble statue!"_

Weiss completely forgot what her intentions were and was keen on just touching the glorious specimen before her. Jaune looked down on the white-haired girl with a quirked eyebrow and a bemused smirk.

"You enjoying the show?"

His voice brought her back to reality. Weiss stepped back and covered her face as she blushed in embarrassment. Jaune took this time to dress himself. Just as he finished, a group of BK soldiers ran in, led by a dark-skinned man wearing a black, leather jacket that was slightly unzipped, and leather pants. Both articles of clothing were decorated with straps all around. The man's right hand was covered in a red glove. He wore a pair of red shades and a silver cross hung from his neck.

The man took off his shades, a bored look on his face. It was switched to that of irritation when his eyes landed on Jaune, however. "Oh good grief. It's you."

"Nice to see you too, Keegan."

"For the last time, it' just K'!" he growled out. Putting back on his shades, he got to business. "Where's Callows? We're here to apprehend him and Yamazaki's already been loaded up."

Jaune looked away, a bit ashamed. He knelt down and picked up Tyrian's severed hand and stinger, tossing them towards the dark-skinned man. K' caught them and looked at the items with a raised eyebrow.

"Those are Tyrian's. Cut them off of him before he managed to get away."

"'Get away'?" parroted K'.

The blond nodded. "Yeah. Looked like a Grimm grabbed him then whisked him away."

Weiss nodded, confirming what he said was true. Sighing, the BK commander snapped his fingers, silently ordering his group to do a sweep of the building. He pocketed his hands and turned to join them, but not before looking at Jaune, giving him a slight nod of gratitude.

* * *

Back in his penthouse, Rugal stared at the fire with a content look as he swished around the wine in his glass.

"All things considered, the end result wasn't too terrible."

Behind him, both Mature and Noriaki sat on two separate chairs. The latter was playing a game on a Switch while the former was staring at her locket with melancholy. Noriaki looked up from his game and nodded in agreement.

"But, it's such as shame that Tyrian failed. We could have done with one less Schnee out of the way. Filthy humans keep on destroying numerous mountains and our beloved land just to get their hands on Dust."

Surprisingly, however, he wasn't finished.

"On the topic of Tyrian, wouldn't it have been better to have used him as a way to contact Salem in order to forge an alliance with her faction? We have the same endgame, don't we?"

Noriaki slightly panicked as he saw Rugal raise his hand, which was coated in energy. The blond willed it away as he took a sip of his wine. "That may be, but Salem is nothing to us. While her Grimm are a threat, compare them to the demons, and they're but insignificant specks. While our goals are the same, there's no doubt that she would betray us in the end and it would raze a part of this world's environment, and we do not want that."

Taking another sip, Rugal rested his chin on his hand and sighed. "Perhaps we should reconsider our efforts into wiping away those damned descendants of Sparda."

"What do you have in mind, Lord R?"

"Nothing, as of yet. Glassare, Spettro and Vice are dead. Azura is MIA, and we can't seem to locate our brother of earth. We need to think of a better strategy to combat against them. For now, do not approach them. I'll call when I've figured something out."

Noriaki nodded and left. Mature closed her eyes, clenching her locket tightly before leaving as well. The Combat Philanthropist mulled over many strategies, trying to think of something that could possibly work against his enemies.

Out of nowhere, the red-clad man fell off his chair and screamed in agony. He clutched the right side of his face, feeling an intense phantom pain radiating from it. Finally, the sensation was washed away, allowing Rugal to stand.

"This feeling… It only comes when **_he _**is nearby." He walked up to the large window panes that overlooked a vast majority of the city. Gazing straight at the forest, he could see the slightest glint of energy pop up. "There is no doubt about it. **_He_** roams once again."

* * *

In said forest, darkness coated the entirety of it. Not even the moon gave it light, as if actively avoiding it. There weren't any woodland critters either, having been scared off by the presence that had mysteriously appeared.

The man shrouded in shadows stood at the very center. There were no distinct features to identify him with, other than his red eyes that glowed menacingly in the dark. An ancient symbol appeared on his back as he struck the tallest tree, causing it to fall down with one punch.

He blurred and broke it into mere splinters. The mysterious figure clenched his fists tightly, as he spoke loudly to himself.

"**My fists…no know equal."**

* * *

**Oh gee. I wonder who this "mysterious" individual could be? Kinda enjoyed my break a little bit TOO much. That, and I've been enjoying Honkai Impact 3. So, anyways, here's the newest chapter!**

**Which one of you called out that Rugal was the most obvious main villain of the story arc? Bet it was real obvious.**

**As for the lone guest review, sorry, you're gonna have to wait until the next chapter for you answer, if you're stil here :P**

**Now, as some of you had pointed out, there were a lot less of RWBY. So, here's my mitigation to that - introducing Weiss a tad bit early, along with Tyrian! Bet you didn't expect them :)**

**On another note, I've made some slight changes just with names. Luna's Devil Arm was called Yagami, but has been changed to Nyx. Fuego, one the still unseen member of the Hakkeshu, has become Azura and is now female. Tenjin has been replaced to Noriaki, just to make the reference a bit obvious, that, and I realized his name translated to 'wind god', which would imply his element would be wind, but it's not.**

**As always, thank you all for the support that you give to this story. Review for any questions that you may have, I'm willing to answer them. Stay safe, y'all.**


	18. Brush with Death

"Come on! Pick up the pace, and let's get this little 'expedition' over with." said a male wearing a black and white hooded uniform that resembled a cult, and a mask that highly resembled a Grimm. He was accompanied three others that wore the same thing. A key thing noticeable about them was the animal features that they had.

These people, no, Faunus, were apart of an organization called the White Fang, a once peaceful activist group that turned into a radical terrorist group that aimed to use fear as a way to garner equality for the Faunus people.

Currently, the four White Fang members were wandering around an old, seemingly abandoned Mistralian-style house near the very outskirts of Mistral. One of them, a female with raccoon-like stripes, asked a question.

"Remind me again, why we're exploring this spooky house instead of helping the others?"

She stepped over some fallen rubble as her comrades walked forward, holding flashlights. Lucky for her that she had it. The one with ram horns answered her.

"Because, you know how Commander Taurus gets about whenever they hear about something that's associated with the supernatural, or whatever. And, if the information's correct, we might get something powerful that'll help us in our crusade for equality."

"Better hope you're right about this." muttered the raccoon Faunus.

As they ventured deeper into the house, they came across a large section of the hallway looking like as if a battle had just occurred. Scratch marks across the wall, with some chunks of it having broken down and becoming nothing but rubble. The floor was also covered in deep burns, making it obvious that fire was involved. The horse Faunus knelt down and rubbed a finger across it, before hissing in pain as he wagged it around.

"These burns were very recent. Whoever did this is likely still here."

"Then keep your eyes peeled."

The four shot up, hearing a pained giggle. Pointing their flashlights across the hall, there, a female figure was slumped over, breeding quite profusely, looking barely alive. She had bluish-red hair, the bangs covering her eyes. Her entire body was riddled with scratch marks and third-degree burns.

The fatally injured woman looked directly at the White Fang grunts and gave them a grin.

"None of you… Should have come here… You'll all… Just die… Like the animals you are…"

Taking one last breath, her head tilted down and she turned limp. Whoever she was, she was now dead. The quad of Faunus was completely unnerved by what she had said, the raccoon one more so, starting to become very afraid.

"As if this place wasn't already eerie, now we just saw someone die. Come on, let's get out of here!" she urged her companions.

"Not yet. We'll check out the last room, and if there's nothing, we get out of here. Just, get your weapons ready." ordered the leader of the quad, who had whiskers.

With great reluctance, the four of them walked deeper into the hall, taking out their Dust rifles and putting it off of safety. Every step they take, they carefully scanned their surroundings for anything that might pop out. Seeing nothing, they entered the room. The four of them gaped in awe. The room was filled with all sorts of treasure, sets of armor, scrolls, and even weapons. In the middle stood a strange shrine with an eight-headed snake. Quite surprisingly, the room was well lit by a chandelier.

"Dust, look at all of this. I'm surprised some sort of scavenger hasn't come across this place. It's practically a gold mine!" exclaimed the ram Faunus.

The other two just nodded in agreement, still in awe. The mouse Faunus shook his head, focusing back on the mission, "There may be a trap. Be sharp, and carefully inspect from top to bottom."

Just as he said this, the lights died, and their torches flickered until it went off. All four of them made varying noises of reaction. Raccoon girl, being the only one with decent night vision among them, tried to discern what was happening. In the corner of her eyes, she saw something large move quickly to the side. While her comrades panicked, she slowly crept up it to investigate despite how much her heart was pounding.

Before she could say anything, a hand grabbed her and muffled her screams. Meanwhile, the others tried to get the flashlights back to working as they stumbled around. Then, the light went back on…except it didn't come from the chandelier. They looked up and could hear something breathing heavily, growling quite like an animals. There, hanging from the ceiling, was a man with purple flames from the palm of his hands, which illuminated the room…and his other hand buried deep into the neck of the now dead raccoon Faunus.

The man roared and threw down the flames, burning down Ram. The other two screamed in fear as they rushed to get out. However, the monster gave chase, running at them on all fours like a rabid animal. Antelope wasn't so lucky as he tripped down and was promptly impaled him through his back and bypassed his Aura. Mouse didn't turn back as he shed tears for his dead companions. He grabbed his radio and tried to steadily set the frequency to call for help.

He bit down a curse as his radio kept on giving out large static that would most definitely give him away. Soon enough, a connection was made. But, he didn't get the opportunity as his hunter pierced him on the chest, rapidly slashing him seven more times before bisecting him cleanly. Mouse screamed in pain and tried to crawl to his radio as his superior's voice barked out, demanding what was happening. He didn't even get a chance as the hunter bashed the life out of his bleeding body, the last hit burning the corpse to cinders.

"**What the hell is going on there? Respo-"**

The rabid man crushed the radio to pieces and gave out a loud roar under the light of the moon.

* * *

**A Month Later**

Jaune just smiled as Pyrrha made herself comfortable on his chest. The two of them were lying down on a blanket as they enjoyed the refreshing breeze brush on their face, accompanied by the sounds of nature. The two of them decided to go on a simple picnic to enjoy the beauty of what nature could offer.

The couple was situated on a hill, overlooking a field of flowers, teeming with woodlands critters wandering about. And they were quite friendly too. It was by sheer luck that Trish had discovered this place when she first struck out on her own, and she shared this knowledge to only a select few. With this, Jaune and Pyrrha used it to their advantage to have some alone time together so she wouldn't get recognized.

Jaune wrapped his demonic arm around his girlfriend, letting her feel the warm energy that it seemed to exude, causing her to nuzzle into it. The blond chuckled at her reaction. He reached out for their picnic basket and flipped it open, grabbing a box of his favorite snack - chocolate caramel bites.

Opening it with just one hand, he laid it by his side and grabbed a handful, popping them into his mouth. He dug his hand into the box once again, and fed them to Pyrrha. The beautiful redhead happily accepted the treat, letting her boyfriend feed her. Jaune sighed in contentment as he rhythmically caressed Pyrrha's hair.

For what seemed to be moments, the two just stayed like there in that exact position. Jaune looked up, seeing the clouds come over and form shapes.

"Hey, look over there. That cloud is shaped like a tree." the blond pointed it out.

Pyrrha giggled and pointed at another one. "That one looks like a pumpkin."

The shapes were blown away, replaced by that of a baby. The couple's face flushed a healthy amount and were quick to turn away as it disappeared.

"I think it's a little too early to be thinking about that, right?" Pyrrha spoke up.

"Hmm. I wouldn't mind settling down, and start a family some day, but yeah, we're barely into our adulthood and we haven't even seen each other naked… Except for that one time you walked in on-"

"Oh Dust, please don't remind me! I couldn't get the image out of my head for weeks!" she pouted.

The two let out a lighthearted laugh, enjoying the moment. Then, they decided to switch positions so that they were now under the shade of the tree. Jaune pulled Pyrrha in for an embrace, nuzzling the back of her neck.

"What I wouldn't give for it to be like this forever…" he muttered. "With all the crap about the demons, and you with your school work, we barely get any time to spend with together."

Pyrrha smiled and broke away from the embrace. She craned her head and their lips met for a kiss. Jaune ran his hand up her back, pushing the kiss deeper. Lightly, she moaned into his mouth as she wrapped her arms around him tightly, becoming a little drunk by the kiss.

Getting a bit bolder, she probed her tongue in between his lips, asking for permission to enter. Parting his lips, their tongues met in a little clash for dominance, dancing around each other as they swapped spit. The young pair broke apart, a string of saliva trailing from their mouth. Looking into each other's eyes, Jaune couldn't help but ask her something.

"What brought that on?"

Pyrrha hummed in satisfaction as she laid herself on his chest. "Do I really need a reason to kiss you, the man I love?"

Jaune chuckled and wrapped his arms around her again as they watched the flowers and trees dance around peacefully. Pyrrha got up, looking like she had something important to say.

"I've been meaning to ask you about something… It's about Kyrie."

"Your sister?" asked Jaune in confusion. "Why, did something happen with her?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "No. It's about-"

Unfortunately, they were soon interrupted by Jaune's Scroll ringing. Sighing in irritation, he fished it out of his pocket to check who it was. The redhead frowned at this.

"Duty calls?"

"Yeah…" he reluctantly replied. "Looks like that talk's gonna have to wait. Sorry, Pyr. Come on, let's pack up. I'll take you home."

* * *

The Son of Vergil dropped down through a portal to the Devil May Cry office after giving his girlfriend a lift. Morrison sat on the couches, and he was the only there. The blond stood up, approaching the info broker.

"So, what's the details, Morrison? You kinda cut in on my sweet time with Pyrrha."

"Heheheh. Sorry for cock-blocking you, my friend, but you got some work to do. There's been word near the outskirts of Mistral that something's been causing some curious fellows to disappear. Some Huntsmen were dispatched to go check it out, but they ended up missing too."

Jaune immediately went to one conclusion. "You think it's a demon?"

"Huntsmen are, by no means, weak. But the Grimm aren't like demons, so I'm inclined to think that that might be the case." Standing up, Morrison moved to exit. "Now, you ain't gonna be getting any back up. Dante's still at the hospital, Ren's finally gonna get discharged. Lady is off who-knows-where. Trish is trying to look into your little Hakkesshu problem, and Luna's helping out her twin."

"Well, I'm not gonna need it. I can do this on my own, Morrison."

Chuckling, the dapper man put on his hat and closed the doors on Jaune.

* * *

"You sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"Blake, while I appreciate the thought, I can't let you come. I was the one who sent them there, and it falls solely on me to find out what happened to our brothers and sister."

"But Eve-!"

"My decision is final, Blake."

The two that spoke were both female with Faunus heritage. Eve was a cow Faunus that primarily wore an all black outfit accented with red and a bit of white. She had short, thick, red hair that reached up to the nape of her neck, and little horns. Her face was obscured by that of a Grimm mask. Blake, meanwhile, was a cat Faunus that also wore primarily black, complimented with white. Long black hair, and amber-colored eyes.

The redhead ruffled the cat Faunus's hair affectionately, looking at her with a smile. "Trust me on this, little sister. I'll be perfectly fine. Our brothers and sisters here need you more."

"If you're sure…"

Eve nodded and turned to leave, but not before being wrapped by a hug by Blake.

"Be safe out there."

"Hey, this is me you're talking about. There's nothing out there I can't beat."

Bidding her farewell, the redheaded Faunus waved goodbye to her sister figure and headed off , to the outskirts of Mistral, where her subordinates last were before dropping off all of a sudden.

* * *

Jaune pulled the breaks on his motorcycle, parking it right in a cover of rocks. He got off and slowly approached the abandoned house with a curious look. On its front yard, numerous bodies were littered around, all of them heavily mutilated, with some looking like they were set aflame.

Scanning around his surroundings, the Devil Arc found no demons nearby and surmised that they were inside. He walked up to the steps and pushed open the doors. Immediately, he was met with pitch black darkness despite it still being day outside. His only source of light was his Devil Bringer arm. He kept his hand tightly around Red Queen as he ventured forward into the mansion.

As he walked down the hall, he was met with numerous corpses that littered around. Each and every one of them were heavily butchered, as if they were just animals. Some of them them only had ashes as their remains. His face bore no emotion as he looked down on the dead bodies. Years of working as a devil hunter, even if it was short compared to Dante's longer tenure, he had become a bit desensitized to gore.

Looking at his demonic arm, it's glow was still dim, meaning there weren't any demons nearby. But if there weren't any demons, what killed these people? Jaune's head shot up, hearing the floorboards creak. Turning around, he whipped out Blue Rose and aimed forward. Narrowing his eyes, the blond didn't seem to see anyone and holstered back his gun, proceeding to walk forward.

As he went in deeper, he took notice that the darkness seemed to lessen, allowing him to see the paintings, albeit a bit torn, that decorated the walls. Jaune looked at them with curiosity. Whoever lived here were once a part of a trio of clans, but something happened with a snake that caused a rift between two of the clans. Other than that, everything else was incomprehensible.

Jaune eyes narrowed, sensing that someone was behind him. Spinning around, he grabbed Red Queen and blocked the blade of a red chokuto. It was still a bit dark, but he could make out who exactly his attacker was.

"Eve Taurus, the leader of the White Fang's Vale branch. Aren't you a little bit faraway from home?"

"I'm never too faraway. I'm there whenever my brothers and sisters need me… And I'll exact vengeance for the Faunus that you've slaughtered!"

The two clashed blades, canceling out each others strikes. Eve saw an opportunity and sheathed back Wilt into Blush, quickly slipping into an Iaido stance. Pulling the trigger, she swiftly slashed at Jaune's chest, drawing his blood. Eve looked at her bloodstained blood in surprise, not expecting for that to happen. Jaune grunted and drew out Blue Rose, firing at the distracted woman.

Eve focused and sliced through the bullets. She dashed back, evading Jaune's strikes before countering with her own. Leaving Wilt drawn, she flipped Blush and used its rifle mode, shooting at the blond. He grunted and blocked her attacks with Royal Guard, his face being illuminated by the flicker of energy.

Once again, Eve was distracted. This time, by Jaune's appearance. He looked familiar to her. This costed Eve as Jaune took this to his advantage and grabbed her with a Buster.

The Son of Vergil threw her into the air, before smacking her back to the ground, making her bounce. Jaune grabbed Red Queen and struck her twice, ending it by punching her through the wall, which led to her being launched out and into the back yard.

Eve grunted and pushed herself out of the wreckage, dusting herself off. She turned to glare at Jaune, but instead gaped in surprise. The blond summoned out Yamato and covered himself in his DT's aura, causing his hair to swoop back. Then, the redhead said something that caused Jaune to stop in his tracks.

"Master Vergil?"

Jaune stared at the female Faunus in utter shock. His hostility from earlier faded as he watched Eve pick herself up. He willed away his demon and let his hair fall back down to its normal state. But still, he was apprehensive and kept his hand on Yamato.

"How… How do you know my father's name?"

"Your father?" she parroted.

However, before she could say anything further, the two of them took notice that there seemed to be some thing…eating. Under the shade of a tree, they could see a man hunched over seemingly devouring his meal. From what they could see, he wore a red jacket with the symbol of a white crescent on the back, and black pants with belts strapped around the ankle. The man stopped and turned to face then, showing his red hair and face dripping with blood. His eyes were merely a blank yellow.

Whoever he was, he growled and tossed his meal at the two, revealing that he had been eating the raccoon Faunus from a month ago. Eve looked horrified at her comrade's mangled corpse and saw red. She dashed forward at the rabid man, gripping her sword tightly.

"Bastard, you'll pay!"

Eve jumped into the air and drew out her sword for a descending slash. The man growled and jumped into a rising uppercut, his fists coated in purple flames. It launched back Eve, surprised at the man's reaction. Like an animal, the rabid redhead ran on all fours and leaped forward and slashed right at her.

As she fell, she parried the attacked and kicked him in the face. Eve landed and dashed forward and swiftly struck the man, sheathing back Wilt and sent out numerous slashes at him. Once again, she was surprised as she drew blood, very used to fighting opponents with Aura.

The rabid man arched back then sent out a purple wave of flames at the distracted girl. Jaune intervened, changing his arm into Ice Breaker and threw a ball of ice at the projectiles. It canceled each other. For a moment, Jaune looked at Eve before focusing his gaze at the rabid man.

"Whatever that thing is, he's dangerous. Let's call a truce, for now."

She had no objections and merely nodded. The man dashed forward with astonishing speed and sucker punched Jaune, causing him to stumble. Eve moved in and the two exchanged strikes. The man's fingers were extremely sharp, able to create sparks as it scraped against the blade. As they locked, Eve grabbed a hold of her scabbard and blasted the man twice in the chest, staggering him to Jaune's direction.

The Arc Devil equipped himself with Beowulf and slugged the redhead on the back of the head. Grabbing him by the neck, he tossed him into the air and dealt a flurry of upward kicks then knocked him down with a double hammer fist.

Jaune sidestepped, dodging another wave of flames flung by the man. The rabid killer stood straight and charged up a sphere into his hand. The blond wasn't about to let him and fired an ice ball at him, Roaring, he launched the projectile, only for it to explode in three, separate pillars that melted his ice. Jaune grunted as the attack managed to hit him. He felt a burning sensation spread through his entire body as it suspended him in mid-air.

Eve looked at the spectacle in total confusion, leading to the man attacking her while she was vulnerable. Soon, the feeling ceased and Jaune crashed onto the ground.

"_What the hell was that? These flames feel like the energy Vice used, but with a difference."_

Pushing himself up, Jaune rushed back into the fray, taking a hit on the back. Biting down a curse, Jaune swiveled around and launched him into the air with a powerful uppercut. Cocking back his fists, he threw a barrage of lightning fast punches and ended it with a forceful axe kick, cracking the ground below.

The man quickly recovered and jumped back. Despite his numerous wounds, the man was still up and running. Arching back, he let out a loud shriek that grated against their ears, more so for Eve, being a Faunus. Charging forward, the man screamed and slammed Eve on the ground. Holding her head, he released a brilliant explosion of flames that sent her right into a tree, which knocked off her mask, revealing her blue eyes, and rendered her unconscious.

Jaune aimed his shot and fired off a Charged Round at their mysterious opponent. Turning his attention to the blond, he ran at him as Jaune rapidly shot out bullet after bullet, yet the man didn't even seem deterred by it. The rabid killer leaped forward and slashed at Jaune, his claws covered with his purple flames that burned him. Then, he followed it up with another rising uppercut. Before Jaune could even recover, the man was on him and didn't let up one bit.

The redhead with unbridled savagery attacked without mercy, not giving Jaune any room to breathe, moving with such speed and ferocity. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped and struck a pose. But even then, Jaune couldn't react in time. The man delivered eight blows to different vitals points in his body. Stabbing him in the chest, the man gripped him tightly with both hands and exploded him off with his purple flames.

However, he still wasn't done and tried to barrage Jaune again. Luckily, however, he managed to evade this time, but it led to his coat being torn and burnt to shreds, leaving him in his hoody.

"Crap. Saph is gonna kill me when she finds out I lost the coat that she bought for me."

Tossing the remains aside, the man growled, only to be silenced by Red Queen's blade being smacked on his face. Jaune planted his sword into the ground and revved up its Exceed.

"Guess I have to fight fire with fire!"

Zipping forward, Jaune leaped and planted an overhead strike on the savage, earning him a writhe of pain, Pulling back, he struck upwards and launched him into the sky, following after him as Jaune spun and slashed at him twice, the blade coated in flames as he sent him further up.

Recovering, Eve flipped herself up and jumped to meet the falling monster. Jaune watched in astonishment as Eve performed a move similar to his first Aerial Rave when wielding Yamato. Gripping her sword tightly, she launched him skyward, only to be bring him back down with a descending spiral slash.

The cow Faunus dashed back, narrowly dodging the claws that threatened her face. Slipping into an Iaijutsu stance, once again, Jaune was surprised as Blush glowed an explosive red. Eve drew out Wilt, and a vortex of slashes surrounded the monster.

Sheathing back her chokuto, she dashed forward and pulled the trigger on Blush, slicing the rabid man multiple times in one strike. Getting a little confident, Eve continued to attack the seemingly still cannibal as she unleashed her pent up fury against him. The lives of her brethren would be avenge.

Eve raised her blade, prepared to take the man's life. But, despite his seemingly savage state, he retained a bit of sense of strategy by waiting her out. The redheaded monster parried her blade and clawed at her face, more specifically her left eye. He channeled more his flames into the attack, and he managed to bypass her Aura.

Eve cried loudly, feeling immense pain as she was flung back. She couldn't do anything as all of her focus was on the burning sensation directly in her eye as she clutched it, desperately trying to make it go away. The man charged at her, fully intending to finish her.

Jaune intervened, grabbing him with a Buster. He pulled the savage towards him and clobbered him with his Devil Bringer. Switching it to Ice Breaker he froze him up then broke him out by delivering a devastating back kick that sent him careening back into the mansion. The Son of Vergil decided to finish things up and summoned Yamato to him.

Red roared in anger and the two met in a clash. Jaune grunted as he blocked and swung, every action he did met with the man's claws. Begrudgingly, he had to admit, despite acting severely on animal instinct with a hint of skill, the rabid killer evenly matched him, and he could respect that.

Striking another pose, hinting that he was gonna do the same eight string attack that he did so earlier. This time, he was ready. Jaune entered Royal Guard and blocked blocked the eight consecutive blows perfectly. Channeling the accumulated Rage, he jabbed him straight in the chest and blew him back just as he tried to continue the attack.

Gripping Yamato tightly, Jaune grunted and disappeared out of sight. Flurries of Judgement Cuts surrounded Red, trapping him in a vortex of blades, giving him numerous lacerations. The blond reappeared and moved to put back Yamato in her saya, before turning back and stabbing the rabid man straight in the gut.

Red screamed in intense agony as Jaune further drove the katana in him. He violently squirmed and gripped at the blond's arms, trying desperately so hard to wrest the blade out of his stomach. But soon, it would cease. His arms fell limp and his body slumped forward as he drew his last breath.

Jaune ripped out Yamato and watched as the man's body unceremoniously fell back, a pool of his own blood forming under him as his eyes lost its glow. Flicking the crimson blood off the blade, he slammed Yamato back into her scabbard and quickly ran up to Eve, who was still writhing in pain, clutching her left eye.

Kneeling down, the Son of Vergil shifted her arm off her face and placed his over it, cooling the burn with Ice Breaker. Eve let out a hiss, as did the burn as the cold presence of the ice extinguished the flames. Pulling back his arm, the burn was now gone, however, her eye would need to be checked at, with the claw mark scar running across it.

"Is it bad?" she asked, noticing that he was staring quite a bit.

"Can't tell. As far as I know, you might not be able to see through that eye."

Eve merely grunted, pushing herself up to grab her fallen mask. "It doesn't really matter. Vergil taught me how to fight without my sight."

At the mention of his father, Jaune finally questioned Eve. "How exactly do you know of him?"

The red-haired Faunus sat down on a peace of rubble as she began to reminiscent of her moments with her teacher. "The first time we met, he saved me. I got tangled up with a bad group, and he pulled me out then beat them all to submission. I was amazed at how strong he was, and I begged him to teach me. He was hesitant, but in the end, he stuck by for a whole year and taught me the basics of his techniques. Vergil was the closest thing I had to a father. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here. He taught me a bit about demons, and I took an interest in them. That's why some of my men were here. There were rumors of a demonic artifact, and I hoped it would be something connected to him."

"So, you don't know where he is?"

Much to his disappointment, Eve nodded her head. "He left all of a sudden. Didn't even get to say goodbye. But, he did leave something behind. He told me, that if I somehow crossed paths with his son, I should give it to him."

Eve reached to her back and handed him a lightly cracked Scroll. Jaune took it from her and stared at it for a brief moment. Was this Vergil's Scroll? He pocketed it, wanting to look through at it later in private. Then, much to his surprise, the redhead pulled him in for a hug.

"Uh… What are you doing?"

"You'll understand when you listen to what's in the Scroll. Trust me." she softly insisted.

Shrugging, Jaune allowed Eve to hug him, staying like that for a couple of seconds before breaking away. She ran her fingers through her hair sighing.

"I'm going back inside to investigate further. Wanna come with?"

The blond shook his head. Eve merely nodded and walked back inside the mansion, leaving the Lone Son alone. Jaune crossed his arms and processed what he had just learned. Instead of getting answers, he got more questions. What was exactly going through Vergil's mind when he left? Did he have a reason? Why did he teach Eve then leave without any warning?

Shaking his head in irritation, the blond went to leave, when Red's body was burned to cinders out of nowhere, leaving no trace of his corpse. A spirit appeared, looking exactly like Red. The man offered Jaune a grateful smirk and grunted as he faded away, a jade-colored magatama materializing.

Feeling apprehensive, Jaune pulled the jewel towards him hesitantly. When he made contact with it, a surge of memories flowed into his mind, making him scream silently as he experienced all of them. From childbirth, all the way to his death. The man that they had just fought, his name was Iori and he was the heir…to one of the three mystical clans that fought Orochi!

Jaune pulled away from the magatama, panting heavily. He let Iori's memories sort out in his mind. Once he recovered, he took hold of the sacred treasure, and this time, there wasn't a surge of memories. Jaune absorbed the magatama into his arm, and like with Ice Breaker, it changed. His scales were an even deeper shade of red, the glow on it colored purple like the flames.

Grunting, he willed it away and turned to leave. Eve whistled, grabbing his attention. She tossed a bunch of scrolls to him and sent him a two-finger salute, saying her farewells. Before she left, Jaune called out to her.

"Hey, you know, you're not as bad as what that public makes of you. If my father helped you out, then, you're more than welcome to come swing by and visit us at Mistral."

Eve didn't say anything. She craned her neck and flashed him a smile, nodding. With that, she left to head back to her base.

* * *

Jaune silently drove through the road, the sun slowly setting in the sky. He thought back to the Scroll that Eve had given to him. Ever since he got it, his mind had been in a whirlwind of emotions. For the past months, admittedly, he had forgotten about Vergil. While he didn't fully hate the man, per say, a small part of him loathed his uncle's twin. Yet, another longed to meet him. All in all, his feelings regarding his father is quite mixed.

Sighing, the blond headed into the forest and parked right at a clearing. Jaune took out the Scroll and booted it up. As it opened, he couldn't help but feel surprised when he saw the screen saver on it - a picture of him when he was still just an infant, being carried by his mother. A small, sad smile overtook Jaune's face. He shook his head and opened up the lone file that was on the device - a recording. For a few short seconds, no one spoke, only the sound of nightly breeze and chirping of cricket until, finally, a voice.

"**Eve, I'm entrusting my Scroll to you. Do not listen to the rest of this message, only Jaune may do so. When you meet him, give this to him… Oh, and hug him for me as well."**

Jaune listened in astonishment. He finally heard what his father sounded like. _"So that's why Eve did that." _he thought. Remaining silent, he listened to what he had to say.

"**You'll hate me… I know it. Being absent in your life does that. Some part of me hated my own father for doing that to me and your uncle, and yet here I am, repeating his actions. But, my leaving is not without reason. I…had a personal problem that I needed to resolve. I couldn't let it endanger any of you, so, regrettably, I had to leave without a word. Let me tell you, my son. I was… so happy when you were born. I couldn't quite understand why, but I just was. Not seeing you grow is something that will forever haunt me, but I know your mother well, she'll be there for you, always. Hopefully, I can finish this ASAP, and get back soon… I realize that, I left a bedtime story for Nera on a cliffhanger. She's probably quite eager to find about the ending. That, and all the parties I missed for all of you... Heheheheh, I can't wait to hear your mother's stories of your birthdays."**

The blond sniffled, wiping away his tears. Nera had often pestered everyone to read her her favorite bedtime story, but they couldn't because the story didn't have any books. It was completely made by Vergil, who made no notes whatsoever, so, she was left hanging for years…and she never even got to hear the ending. He was snapped back to reality, hearing his father grunt in displeasure.

"**It seems I need to go… Stay safe, all of you. Know that I will protect and guide you. I can tell, that I'm already proud of what you'll become. Until then, my son."**

And the Scroll beeped, signaling that the recording had stopped. Jaune looked down, tears still fresh on his face. How? How was it possible to miss someone you've never even met?!

"**_Like master Vergil said, I'm sure he had good reasons for leaving, young master."_** perked up Yamato. **_"Surely, the two of you will meet in the near future."_**

He remained silent. Standing up, he pocketed the Scroll and prepared to leave, when he felt his arm glow brightly.

**Play DMC 3 - Cerberus Battle Theme**

Jaune looked down on his Devil Bringer, signaling to him that there was a demon near-by… and it was powerful. He looked around, getting ready for a fight if he had to. A figure zoomed behind him, but when he turned around, there was no one there. Gulping down his nervousness, Jaune drew out Red Queen and stood at the ready.

"**So, you are Sparda's latest descendant?" **spoke a booming voice.

Jaune fell to his knees at the large amount of killing intent that was being expelled, making it hard to breathe. Looking up, he saw a figure standing before him, his back turned. He wore a black and tattered karate gi, had spiky red-hair and a menacing aura covered him.

Jaune shakily forced himself to stand as the man turned around to face him, revealing his piercing red eyes. The deadly stranger regarded the blond with a measuring gaze before grunting and introduced himself.

"**I am Akuma, the Master of Fists. I have done much for power. Shed myself of any human weakness and conquered my own darkness and embraced it. It is unfortunate that Sparda is ****gone. He was one of the few to give me a good fight, but for someone that has his blood, you're quite a disappointment."**

Slamming down his foot, he surged out his killing intent once more. The Son of Vergil gritted his teeth as his knees threatened to buckle under the pressure, but he stood tall and called out his pseudo-DT, equipping Beowulf onto himself. Steeling himself, Jaune slammed his gauntlets together and slipped into a stance, glaring heatedly at the demon. Akuma seemed slightly amused as he let up a bit, readying himself for the battle.

"**It seems ****this won't be a total waste after all.**** Very well****. Now come, and face death!"**

The two charged at each other. Jaune threw a punch, but Akuma had blocked it, connecting his fist with the blonde's gut. Swiftly pulling back, he sent out a rising uppercut that launched Jaune into the sky. Akuma jumped after him and twisted his body like a tornado, rapidly striking the cambion, kicking him into a tree.

Akuma cupped his hands together, firing a purple fireball of energy. Jaune rolled out of the way, letting the tree be obliterated into nothing but splinters. He growled and charged at the redheaded demon, throwing out punch after punch. But, the difference between them was staggering. Akuma merely blocked and parried every attack that he had delivered. Flipping forward, he grabbed Jaune by the shoulders and body slammed him into a jagged rock.

The Son of Vergil winced in pain. The Master of Fists jumped back, dodging Jaune's attempted to leg sweep. As he was still in the air, he thrust both of his arms, firing out more fireballs at the blond. This time, he knew how to react. Jaune punched and kicked them aside, bringing down a couple of trees. Grunting, he drew out Blue Rose and fired off a few shots, accompanied by Summoned Swords.

Akuma didn't even seem bothered as he simply phased through them, as if they were nothing, leaving behind a trail of afterimages as he did so. He stopped right behind Jaune and charged up his power, sending out a literal fire ball. Luckily for Jaune, he managed to react, but not fully in time as he brought up Royal Guard, blocking the fireball normally as it dissipated. His pseudo-Trigger began to flicker out due to Jaune not being able to perfect the guard.

Akuma rocketed forward and punched Jaune, dizzying him, allowing the fighting demon to dish out a brutal string of attacks, each one nearly cracking his bones.

**"Messatsu!"**

Akuma grunted and repeatedly performed numerous rising uppercuts, juggling Jaune into the air. Getting an opportunity, the Arc Devil grabbed Akuma's wrist he tried another strike and twisted his arm then kicked him down.

"Go back to hell!"

Charging up Beowulf, he fell crashed down and slammed his fist into Akuma's gut, a geyser of light erupting around them. Taking the opportunity, he switched out to Yamato and launched the demon with an upward strike. Jaune grunted and slipped into an Iaido stance, sending out Judgement Cuts at the airborne redhead.

However, he propelled himself back with his fireballs, dodging the slash vortexes. Landing down nimbly, Akuma gathered energy into his hands and fired off a massive fireball at Jaune. The Son of Vergil didn't dodge, and instead redirected its path upward, causing a few more trees to fall behind them.

"**Impressive. Show me more!"**

The two ran at each other and their punches met a clash, creating a small shockwave that shook the ground. Dashing back, he drew out Red Queen and tried a Shuffle read the move and parried it, disarming the blond and tossing aside the sword…which just so happened to cleave his bike in half.

"Not my bike!" he cried out.

Teleporting behind the distracted devil hunter, he grabbed him by the shoulder and karate chopped his neck, before executing a palm thrust to his face, dazing him. Using this to his advantage, Akuma dashed forward and performed an upward spiral kick that pulled Jaune in, the both of them rising into the sky. Reaching a big enough height, he pulled back his hands and unleashed a barrage of fireballs that sent him crashing down, creating a small-sized crater.

Jaune groaned as he pushed himself out, Akuma landing down near by with a large tremor. The Master of Fists roared and charged once again for another attack. The Son of Vergil managed to anticipate this and land a Buster on him. The two engaged in quick exchange of strikes, and kicks. Luckily for Jaune, he managed to win and slashed at Akuma's chest, creating a large gash that made him bleed.

Tricking back, Jaune projected out more Summoned Swords and sent them at the fighter demon. Almost without effort, he batted them all aside. But, this left him vulnerable from behind. Jaune performed a Rapid Slash, further injuring Akuma, tearing up his gi. This greatly amused Akuma, giving off an unnerving grin.

"**Prepare yourself, and face a thousand deaths!"**

Without warning, Akuma glided over to Jaune and grabbed him. The red-haired demon unleashed his ultimate on the young cambion, the entire area turning pitched black. Only the sounds of flesh being pounded and Jaune's agonizing screams could be heard. However, before he could finish, the astral projection of Vergil appeared and struck Akuma's chest, forcing him back as he held his wounded chest. The Master of Fist glared at the phantom, before looking down on the blond, noticing he was still breathing. This further amused him.

"**Good. You are still alive. Despite the blood that has deeply stained your hands, it does not count as evil. You would've survived, even without interference. I'll let you go for now, young descendant of Sparda. This will give me another opportunity to fight you once again. Until then, grow stronger, and then we shall do battle once more. In the meantime, I'll be looking for strong warriors."**

Having said his piece, Akuma blurred and phased out of the vicinity, leaving behind an unconscious and heavily wounded Jaune. The projection of Vergil took hold of his son and carried him over under a tree, grabbing the fallen Yamato and stabbed her into the trunk, allowing the katana to channel some of her energy to help him recover faster. The pseudo-Vergil glowed and covered Jaune, covering his entire body to protect him, effectively camouflaging the blond.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Noriaki had been observing the fight from afar. Having seen enough, he dispersed into a puddle of water and headed for where Rugal was.

* * *

**Took a bit longer than expected, but here's chapter 18. Now, to address the elephant in the room. First, no, Eve won't be with Jaune. Think back then at the first chapter, I only introduced five of Jaune's sisters. Counting her in, he now has seven...technically. Yeah, I don't even know why that's the reason I made Adam into a girl.**

**Second, I admit, the original plan was to use the plot of the TAS, but after watching it again, I decided not to. Aside from introducing us Morrison and Patty, showing how Lady and Trish meet, and exploring a bit on Dante's possible subsequent depression after the plot of DMC1, not much to work with, considering every enemy Dante faced was mostly dealt with, _by just using Ebony and Ivory._**

**So, that's why I decided to use some elements from the King of Fighters. This arc served to be a sort of bridge, because I just didn't want to use a time skip over to RWBY immediately, but, guess I failed. Oh, and many other fanfictions do that as well, and aren't located in the misc x-over. I'm sorry if I sound rude, by the way, but doesn't that seem unfair?**

**However, I can't deny that what you, and SP said. I have been focusing too much on adding characters and trying to speed things up to finally go over the RWBY portion. I've been disregarding character development. But, both fortunately and unfortunately, there's only two chapters left planned for this arc. I thought of a possible way to remedy this, but I'm not sure, what do you guys think?**

**I'm thinking of maybe doing a side-story connected to this that brings in attention some details that I have been ignoring - how Jeanne and Vergil met, Kyrie and Jaune/Nero interaction, same with Pyrrha too, why Nera died, Arkos first date, etc.**

**Tell me, should I do this? And if you think I should, review down below what other thing I failed to put under the spotlight on. If you guys don't say anything, I'll take your silence as disagreement. As always, thank you for your continued support. It's happily appreciated. Until then.**


	19. Omega

"Jaune!"

"Kid! Where are you!?"

The Devil May Cry crew, accompanied by an extremely worried Jeanne, searched around the forest, looking for Jaune, who had been gone for two days. Normally, they wouldn't be so alarmed or worried, since they were all confident in his abilities. But, Rebellion had received a distress signal from his sister, leading them to said forest.

"Are you sure this is the place, Rebellion?" Dante asked.

The demonic sword glowed, and hummed in confirmation. **"Yes, this is where I felt her signal. But, she's not actively broadcasting her presence. Meaning that there may be something that would put Jaune in danger if she revealed themselves. Stay cautious."**

Nodding, the Son of Sparda and his compatriots roamed around further, splitting up. Dante walked up to his sister-in-law and clasped her shoulder in comfort, knowing that she didn't want to bear the thought of losing another of her children. Trish frowned, a bit uncomfortable of the presence that surrounded the woods. Lady trailed close by, keeping an eye from behind.

Nora and Luna went up the trees, hoping to get a better vantage point. But from what they're seeing, things didn't look too good. They saw a few of the trees were broken down. Some had fell, others had a large gap within them or were burnt by something.

Ren saw something out of the corner his sight and jogged up to it. His eyes widened, getting a good look. Red Queen was pinned to a tree while a motorcycle lay underneath it, cleaved in half, surrounded by some ancient scrolls. He pulled out the large blade and called out to the others to show them what he found.

"There's no doubting it… Jaune's nearby. After Fenris died, he pretty much kept Red Queen on him at all times. He may be close." surmised the now white-haired male. After the transfusion, Ren made a full recovery, but there were some changes. One such thing was his hair changing from black to white, although the pink streak still remained.

Jeanne craned her head and saw something blue moving around. Turning to face it, her eyes shot open at the sight of a translucent version of her missing husband. Before she could speak, it spun around and started walking away. Wordlessly, she followed after it where it led her to Jaune's prone form, slumped under the tree as Yamato gave him her energy.

"Jaune!" she cried out.

Jeanne quickly knelt down by her son, checking on his condition. Numerous wounds were scattered across his body, but none too severe, most of them in the slow process of being closed up. She felt around for a pulse, and was very relieved when she felt one.

The others soon came after and were just as relieved to see Jaune alright for the most part. Ren rushed up to her aunt and helped her carry his unconscious cousin, moving to place him inside of her car.

* * *

Jaune's eyes flickered open, groaning as he felt his body ache all over. Looking up, he was extremely grateful to see the ceiling back at his room, and not some random, white ceiling at a hospital. He slowly moved to sit up, but felt something leaning against his stomach. Glancing down, he saw a familiar mop of red hair resting her head on his lap, peacefully sleeping.

Jaune softly smiled as he reached out to caress Pyrrha's hair, being careful not to wake her up. His eyes wandered to the window and saw it was now night, the sun having just set. The blond hummed, noticing that his girl was stirring. Pyrrha got up and softly gasped when she noticed he was awake. She practically tackled him and mashed her lips against his, tears trickling down her cheeks. Jaune didn't mind the kiss and was quick to reciprocate, wiping away her tears.

Pulling back, they touched foreheads as Jaune comforted her, assuring his best friend/girlfriend that he was alright, and wasn't leaving any time soon. Pyrrha got off of him and sat back down on her chair, content to just hold his hand.

"How long was I out?"

The redhead looked hesitant to say, but said it, nonetheless. "Two weeks."

Jaune looked absolutely floored. He had been knocked out for two weeks… Two freaking weeks! Did he miss anything important while he was out, was the question that was currently running through his mind right now. Before he could ask, however, Pyrrha spoke up first.

"Jaune… You know how I wanted to talk to you about Kyrie?"

He hummed in thought, nodding as he remembered it. "Yeah. Why? Is she having some problems?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "No… It's not that." She averted her eyes, refusing to look at her boyfriend in the eye. "Well, the thing is, Kyrie… She loves you."

The Son of Vergil did a double take, looking at her in shock. "She…loves me? Like, like how you love me?"

Receiving a nod, Jaune laid back down, needing to process that fact. Pyrrha held his hand, squeezing it comfortably. "I know it may come off as a shock to you, but it's the truth. She loves you romantically."

"...and you're not mad at her for feeling that way? You don't hate her or anything"

"Why would I? It's not her fault that that's what her heart wants. Besides, I could never hate her, she's my sister…and, well, I actually wouldn't mind sharing you with her."

Jaune's eyes widened, looking at Pyrrha incredulously, who had turned away once again, blushing heavily as she twiddled her finger together. Dating not only Pyrrha, but Kyrie as well? As he thought about it, the idea actually seemed appealing. He couldn't lie to himself, but there were times he actually entertained the thought of dating Kyrie when he had posed as Nero back in Fortuna, before he realized his feelings for Pyrrha.

"What's her take in all of this?" he asked.

"Kyrie's fully on-board, if you do accept. But, if you don't, she understands and will set aside her feelings for the benefit of our happiness. The decision is all on you."

A part of him was pretty content with just having Pyrrha… But the thought of making me Kyrie hurt and heartbroken just made him feel so…sad. He closed his eyes, considering the options and weighed them out. Finally, he spoke.

"I… I don't know yet. I need some time to think this all out. I just woke up, after all. That, and I need to speak with Kyrie myself."

Pyrrha nodded in understanding, saying that she'll relay the message to her sister. She then brought him up to speed of what happened while he was still unconscious. Her sponsor, Rugal, was planning on throwing some sort of scavenger hunt/fighting event. Invite-only, which he had received one, with the winning prize of a hundred million Lien.

Jaune's eyes shot open at the amount. A hundred million Lien? The things he could buy with that kind of money. He could treat his family, his friends, and most importantly, Pyrrha. Then, he remembered, the scrolls that he had gotten from Eve, plus his weapons and his motorcycle. Before he could ask, the door opened, and out came his mother, Dante and Trish came in.

Pyrrha stepped aside and walked out, deciding to give the family some room. Jeanne wrapped her son in a tight hug, letting out a few tears of joy. Trish smiled, settling for a hand wave, while Dante crossed his arms, looking a bit serious

"What happened, kid? You looked pretty banged up when we found you."

"Got my ass handed to me. That's what happened." he bitterly responded. "Just took a quick break after I did the job Morrison laid out for me. Then, out of nowhere, this guy called Akuma shows up and beats the hell out of me."

Trish stepped forward, looking very surprised. "You're certain that's what he called himself?"

The Arc Devil nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

The femme fatale frowned, leaning against the wall as a troubled look crossed her face. "Akuma is a well-known demon within Mundus's ranks. Originally, he was just a normal human, until he discovered an ancient power that allowed him to shed himself of his humanity and became a powerful demon - The Evil Intent. He frequently challenged anything he came across, killing them after he was done. Mundus grew afraid of him, and sent out Sparda to deal with him, when he hadn't betrayed his kind yet. Sparda had soundly beaten Akuma, but not without sustaining great injuries himself. While he was weakened, Mundus cast him out to another dimension, trapping him there."

"And if he was indeed the one that Jaune fought, that would mean he's escaped." finished Jeanne.

The she-devil nodded. "But, evil he may be, he actually has a code of honor from what I've heard - he will not fight the weak, the ill, the young, or the old. He'll only fight and kill you when you're at your absolute best."

Jaune plopped back, a deep frown on his lips. "That's not comforting at all. So what, he was just toying with me?"

"Not necessarily. Maybe, he just wanted to gauge you strength then left you to get stronger." suggested Dante..

Jeanne materialized a Vital Star into her hand and gave it to Jaune, fully healing his wounds. The blond looked over to his mother, both grateful and confused. She merely parted her bangs and looked away with a frown. "I know you well enough that you're going to join the event tomorrow." she explained. "Might as well have you in top shape."

"...Thanks, mom. Just because of that, I'll win the whole thing for you."

Dante stifled down a chuckle, and just smirked.

* * *

Jaune silently walked up to the stadium where the event would take place. With the lost of his coat, he had to look for an alternative. As luck would have it, Jeanne had kept some of Vergil's coats in pristine condition. So now, he was wearing his father's coat. It felt…weird, yet absolutely right.

Being stopped by the guards, he showed them his invitation and was allowed entry. The Son of Vergil was amazed at the amount of people that showed up. He scanned around, seeing a lot of variety. There were some Faunus, people who looked like students, models, men who seem pass their prime yet exuded a large amount of fighting experience, girls in all sorts of styles of clothing and-wait. Was that Ren? Seeing his cousin, he jogged up to greet him.

"Ren? What are you doing here?"

The Son of Dante clasped the blond's hand, giving it a firm shake. "Dad was invited too, but he declined and let me take his place. I'm mostly here for the scavenger part. I promised Nora I'd buy her all the pancakes she wants when I win."

A smirk crossed his lips as he pulled away his arms. "Heh. You're gonna have to get through me first. I aim to dominate this whole event."

Ren smirked back and two bumped fists. Unbeknownst to the two of them, a man in a white jacket was staring heatedly right at Jaune, an excited smirk on his face. Everyone ceased all conversation when Rugal's image appeared on the screen.

"**Greetings, and welcome to the first ever, Treasure Battle. Now, I know some of you already know what's inside your envelopes. Open it, and inside you'll find your list of items. Your objective, of course, is to complete your respective lists and bring them to the designated spot. However, there's are some twists - each spot is designated with a guardian. You need to beat them before you can grab your item. And for the second one, some of you share the last two items on your list, but there's only three of each one. If your item has been claimed, you may take it from the other contestant by rite of combat. Beat them, you get what you want. Lose, however, you also lose the items you've collected and they'll be scattered in different places. All of you, do the best that you can…and have fun."**

The hologram fizzled out and every competitor were led to different starting points by the organizers. Ren looked at his list and memorized each item he needed.

"A stone mask. A ruby. A pocket watch. A golden arrow, and…a sandwich?" Blinking, he reread his list again and found nothing wrong. "Why do I feel like these are all references to something?"

With Jaune, he could only raise an eyebrow, as everything he needed to find was something precious. "A ruby. An emerald. A sapphire. A pearl. And a diamond… Huh."

* * *

Everyone readied themselves as they all waited for the event to begin. A buzzer rang off, signaling the start. All of the competitors rushed out of their spots and headed into the large, open area. Around the stadium, numerous screens flashed to life, showing each competitor. Jeanne, along with her daughters, Pyrrha, Kyrie and the Devil may Cry crew sat on the stands, watching intently at the screens that had Jaune and Ren.

Ren didn't slow down as he scanned around the area. His map had directed them to this coordinates. To his luck, there embedded on the top of a boulder was the sandwich. However, much to his confusion, there wasn't anyone present. Smirking, he ran fast faster and launched himself into the sky, snatching it out of the stone and went to move ahead.

Out of nowhere, a burst of lightning sparked out and struck down a couple of trees. Luckily, Ren managed to slide under it and got away without so much of a scratch, barring the path behind him. He grunted and placed away the sandwich in his hammerspace. Out of nowhere, a group of androids materialized, completely surrounding him.

"Should've known." he muttered to himself. Ren looked at the robots, raising his hands in faux surrender. "So, any of you willing to sit this one out and have a chat?" They all responded by arming themselves, their hands being replaced with blades or a turret gun. "Guess not."

Those with the guns opened fire. Ren grunted and danced around the bullets, easily weaving through them, some of it ricocheting towards their fellow robots. Skidding to a stop, Ren clenched his hands and Gilgamesh appeared on his person, having been to give him by his father after the incident with Vice.

Cocking back his arm, he engaged the thrusters in the gauntlets and struck two of them before they could hit him with their blades. He flipped back, dodging more gunfire. Charging up the thrusters in his greaves, the saws beginning to spin as Ren dove down with a heel kick, slicing in half a poor robot and bifurcating the arms of three others. One of them dashed forward and tried to strike. Ren quickly stepped back before leaping forward with a counter-attack, punching through its chest.

He pulled back and ducked under an overhead, sweeping it off its feet and tore off its head with a heavyweight uppercut. Sliding back, he gathered aura into the palm of both of his hands and released it on the ground.

"**Double Reppuken!"**

The two waves of wind struck the remaining robots, slicing off their legs, rendering them immobile. With the opposition dealt with, Ren took another look at his map to check where he was headed next.

* * *

Jaune grunted, plucking the emerald out of the wall, the android guardian sparking with it head cleaved off. He had already obtained the diamond and pearl quite easily, so meaning, he was gonna be fighting someone for both the ruby and the sapphire. Sensing an attack, he rolled out of the way, a wave of fire narrowly missing him. The blond looked up, noticing the brunette that had been eyeing from the start leaned against the tree, a cocky smirk on his face.

Jaune's eyes widened, recognizing who he was from Iori's memories - Kyo Kusanagi, heir to one of the three clans that help beat Orochi, and his rival. But as soon as they met eyes, it was wiped away, replaced with a serious gaze. He held out his hand, and a burst of orange fire burst to life in his palm. "These flames…they call out to you, for some reason."

A throbbing pain erupted within Jaune's mind, but he shook it off, ignoring the instinctive hatred he felt for the man. But nonetheless, decided to fight with the former Yamagi Heir's techniques. He grunted, summoning out his own flame, his voice fused with that of Iori. "Then burn them out, purely!"

The two clenched their fist, extinguishing their flames and got into their respective fighting stances. They flicked their hands and sent out a wave of fire at each other, the projectiles canceling each other when they struck. Jaune charged forward and leaped at his opponent, slashing at him with ethereal claws. Kyo raised his guard up, blocking the attack, and quickly went for a counter-strike, setting his fists ablaze and throwing out a chain of swift punches.

Leaning back, the redhead dodge and grabbed Kyo by the wrist, throwing him to the side. He moved in and sent out three uppercuts at him, the last one sending the Kusanagi heir into the air. Gathering his fist into his hand, Jaune performed a rising uppercut, juggling his rival and sent him right into a tree.

Kyo flipped himself up to his feet, wiping away some blood. With a grin, he ran at the blond and their fists met in a clash, coated in their respective flames. The two of them exchanged blows, letting loose some sparks that surrounded them. Taking his opponent by surprise, the Kusanagi heir grinned and jabbed him in the stomach, quickly gripping his face and pulling him up the ground.

"Burn!"

At his declaration, he blew the blonde off with his flames, catapulting him back. Jaune composed himself mid-air, landing on all fours. He grunted and they came to blows once again. The Son of Vergil brandished his claws and slashed at the brunette, who dodged at the very last moments. However, Kyo didn't anticipate for him to grab his face as well and return the favor.

From the very comforts of his office, Rugal watched the on-going fights with a pleased smirk. Everything was proceeding as planned. Normally, something like this would've concerned him in terms of expenses, but the end result as was all that mattered.

Receiving a call from his subordinate, he merely tapped on his desk, accepting it. "Speak."

"**Sir, we have sights on Akuma. He's appeared just where Mr. Benimaru started."**

His smirk turned into a grin, trying to stifle his laughter. "Good."

Leaning into his chair, he let out a triumphant laugh as the pieces to his puzzle began to fall into place. Soon enough, his problems would all disappear!

* * *

Back with Ren, he was fending off numerous competitors, all trying to steal the arrow he had obtained. A burst of lightning went off, narrowly missing him as it struck down numerous trees. The Son of Dante summoned a gust of wind, letting him jump high and over the fallen trees that now barred the path.

"**Sapphire Burst!"**

However, out of nowhere, a burst of sapphires materialized, striking him down. Ren grunted as he did his best to deflect the barrage of gemstones. Gathering wind into his palms, he performed a Raging Storm around him to act like a makeshift shield. It worked, the sapphires being torn down to nothing.

"Impressive. Looks like you've improved from your last fight with Vice."

Ren narrowed his eyes, immediately on the offensive. From the fountain, the water rose up and shaped into Noriaki. The man took off his shades and bowed.

"Greetings, Ren Redgrave. I'm Noriaki, the Raging Waves of the Hakkeshu. And I've come to deliver a message!"

The white-haired teen clenched his fists tightly before loosening up, smirking the brunette. "You got a lot of guts to face me in the middle of a public broadcast. That's a bit admirable." he admitted.

Noriaki smiled, putting back on his shades. "That would be the case, but this area is completely private. There are no cameras here, and no one will cross this place. So, it's just you and me."

With a snap of his fingers, he changed his appearance. Just like with Vice, his entire skin turned pitch black, his hair and clothing glowing a vibrant color with his eyes becoming a dark shade of blue. Noriaki grinned, crossing his arms.

**Play - Virtuous Pope**

"**Show me what you're capable of!"**

Ren silently activated Gilgamesh once again and slipped into his battle stance. Noriaki made a hand motion and tendrils of liquid sprung forward, whipping towards Ren. He batted them all aside, doing his father proud as he did them in a showy manner. The Raging Waves grunted and called upon the moisture in the air, forming them into bullets.

Gathering wind into his palm, Ren punched it out in gusts, deflecting the projectiles that the Hakkeshu member sent. In a bid to surprise, Ren released a Reppuken with his feet. It did indeed. Noriaki grunted as the sharp blade of the wind struck him, drawing out blood. He scoffed and instead pressed on to attack, using the red liquid for his next move.

"**Blood Wave!"**

Gathering some of his blood, and the water from the fountain behind him, Noriaki sent in a typical wave fashion to wash over Ren. He merely cocked a smirk, and uttered one word.

"**Trickster!" **

Ren disappeared in a blink, reappearing right above the wave. With the height he was it, it allowed him to perform a brutal dive kick. He homed in on Noriaki and hit him straight in the throat, making him stumble back and clutch it in pain. The Son of Dante dashed forward and punched the servant twice while he was distracted, before switching to lightning fast kicks that shattered his ribs. Ren spun around, sending out last two kicks that launched him into the fountain.

However, that would prove to be a mistake. The waters surged, being sucked in to Noriaki's body, closing up his wounds. The Raging Waves rose up, grinning at the half-devil. Lifting up his hands, it transformed into large and deadly claws, but this didn't intimidate Ren.

"**Not scared, eh? That's fine. It would've been boring if you were!"**

* * *

Rugal swished around his wine glass, watching the on-going fights with an amused smile from the very comfort of his office. He raised his glass and took a swift sip. Lowering it down, he grinned, sensing the presence that has appeared behind him.

"I was wondering when you would show up."

Swiveling his chair around, Rugal faced Akuma, who looked at him with interest.

"So, it seems you've grown far stronger than we had first battled. You were but a young cub, who had yet to sharpen his claws all this years ago. Maybe now, you might prove to be worth my time. How has your eye been?"

The blond man parted away his right bang, revealing nothing but an empty socket with a single red pinprick in it. A deep frown crossed his lips, as it turned to match his left eye, still feeling the amount of pain he suffered when he lost it.

"It cost me quite a lot to have this sort of cybernetics be developed. Nonetheless, I should thank you. Because of that humiliating defeat, I learned what I needed to stand on the very top." Finishing his glass of wine, he tossed it aside and stood up, curling around his fingers. "That includes your powers, Akuma."

"You may try, but I assure you, it will only end in failure."

Flaring his powers, he grunted, readying himself for a fight. Rugal tore off his coat and powered up, his skin growing darker and his hair turning a platinum shade. The two juggernauts stood at the ready, preparing for what might just be the greatest fight in their entire lifetime. They broke off into a run, meeting each other at the center. The two stopped at the last second and their fist met in a clash.

The force behind both attacks resulted in a powerful shockwave that rippled across the room, tearing it apart. Pulling back their arms, Rugal and Akuma began trading blows, canceling out each other's moves.

All of a sudden, Akuma blurred back, teleporting away from Rugal. He grunted and shot out multiple fireballs at the servant of Orochi. The power-hungry man merely smirked, and gathered energy in the palm his hands, copying Ren's move.

**"Double Reppuken!"**

Rugal sent two waves of wind along the ground, crashing into the fireballs Akuma sent out and they canceled out. Smirking smugly, Rugal dashed forward and vanished in a blink, right before reappearing behind Akuma. One of the strongest demons cried out as multiple lacerations appeared on his body.

**"Genocide Cutter!"**

Rugal twisted his body and started rapidly striking Akuma, his legs creating slicing sounds as he sent him into the air with three rising arc kicks. Blood spurted out from Akuma's mouth, but he didn't let this deter him. Instead, he used it to his advantage. Flipping himself, she surged energy into his hands once again and fired off two fireballs that slammed Rugal onto the ground.

Landing down, he ran forward before jumping up, performing a spinning whirlwind kick, striking the megalomaniac numerous times. Quickly, he ended this with a rising uppercut, sending Rugal flying into his broken desk.

* * *

Jaune grunted, parrying Kyo's barrage of fast-paced strikes. Seeing an opening, he quickly dealt out his claw attacks, scratching the up the heir before he smacked him straight in the jaw then sent a kick straight on the chest.

"I don't have any quarrel with you, Kusanagi. Walk away."

The brunette wiped the blood off his face, looking at the blond with a smirk. "What do you think I am - a coward? Like hell I'm giving up."

He growled and started charging up his flames into the palm of his hands. Jaune narrowed his eyes, recognizing it as one of Kyo's signature moves. Wanting to end things now, he surprised the Kusanagi Heir. From behind him, Nero, his doppelganger, had materialized and trapped him in a hold.

"What the-?!" cried out Kyo, his move being interrupted.

With a clear shot, the Son of Vergil shifted into a stance, readying to perform one of the sacred techniques of the Yagami clan. "Enough playing!"

Dashing forward, he grabbed Kyo and started to strike at multiple pressure points in his body. "Scream. Cry!" With eight hits, he made him flinch, allowing the blond to stab him with his claws, lift him up into the air and slashed him down. "Die!"

Kyo cried out in pain, taking a big hit. He tried to push himself up, only to be kicked back down by Nero, who then vanished back into Jaune. The blond dusted himself off and turned to leave, but not before leaving some parting words.

"By the way, I'm not Iori Yagami, I'm Jaune Arc. Iori died weeks ago. I have his powers and memories, but I'm not him… Just thought you should know.'

Having said his piece, he left the brunette to writhe in pain.

* * *

Ren weaved around Noriaki's claws, doing his absolute best to not get hit by them. He blocked the next attack with Gilgamesh, then used the opportunity to clock the Hakkesshu member straight on the jugular. Before he could recover, Ren dashed forward and knocked the wind out of him with a blow to the chest, quickly following it up into a rising uppercut.

Charging up the thrusters in the gauntlets, Ren roared and slammed his fist into Noriaki's chest, punching through it. The Son of Dante blinked, noticing that he had grabbed on to something. Pulling back, his eyes widened as he stared at the ruby.

He looked down on Noriaki, who was now on the verge of death. The water from the fountain had been dried up, leaving him with no liquid to use for recovery. The servant of Orochi pushed himself, but could only manage to make himself knee.

"**Beware… the power… of the end… for only a paradox…can beat him."**

"What? What are you trying to say?"

"**Our leader…can be beaten…but the paradox…has the highest…chance of killing him."**

Ren grabbed onto Noriaki, looking confused. "What do you mean?!"

"**Pass…this message and…the two of you…will figure it out…"**

Tilting his head, Noriaki drew his last breath as his body returned to normal. Ren released his grip on the man, looking confused. He stood up and wiped the blood off the ruby, his mind trying to decipher what the Raging Waves meant.

* * *

Once more, Akuma charged his power into his palms and fired off another fireball. But this time, it was literally a ball of fire. Rugal flipped himself up and laughed as thrust his arm forward, a green barrier materializing in front of him. The fiery projectile bounced back, bigger and more faster.

Luckily, Akuma was able to react in time and phased through it. However, the servant of Orochi anticipated this. He lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat. Rugal lifted him up and strangled the demon, pulsing in a blue-colored energy into him. Once done, Rugal tossed him into the wall, lightning coursing through his body.

Before Akuma could recover, Rugal dashed forward and grabbed him by the head. He slammed the former human in the wall, a small explosion erupting from the impact. Akuma grunted and forced back the lowly servant, spamming out multiple fireballs to stave off Rugal.

**"Kaiser Wave!"**

The megalomaniac reared back and sent out a large wave of Aura, canceling out all of the fireballs, heading straight for is target. Akuma looked at the large projectile and merely punched it back, surprising Rugal. Thinking quickly, he gathered energy into his hands once more, and sent it as a fairly large, pink ball.

**"Psycho Ball!"**

The two projectiles crashed and canceled each other, kicking up some smoke. Akuma capitalized upon this and teleported in front of Rugal.

**"Messatsu!"**

He sent out three rapid and consecutive Shoryukens, the last one igniting Rugal in purple flames, and sending him crashing right into one of his statues, crushing it. The former Combat Philanthropist pushed himself up and spat out a glob of blood, grinning madly.

**"This is starting to get fun!"**

**"Agreed!"** Akuma flared more of his power, thickly coating him in a deadly shroud as his eyes burned with it.** "Show me more of what you are capable of!"**

**"Gladly!"** Rugal obliged and surprised his opponent with a sudden boost of speed and grabbed Akuma once again, slamming him into the wall once more, but this time, an explosion of Orochi energy accompanied it, damaging the fighting demon more.

Surprisingly, the walls still haven't crumbled down. Unsurprisingly, Akuma was still standing, albeit a bit injured. Nonetheless, he was undeterred as he tore off his gi and roared in excitement, charging off to attack Rugal once more.

* * *

"Give me that ruby."

"If you want, then you'll have to take it… But you already knew that."

"I had a feeling you'd say that."

Jaune and Ren had come across each other while they headed off to the designation spot, the latter already done with his list, while the former still needed the ruby. Figuring that his cousin would have the other ruby, he decided to ambush then fight him for it. The two Grandsons of Sparda smirked at each other as the gauntelts of their respective fathers materialized onto them. They slipped into a battle stance and readied for battle.

The Devil May Cry waited in excitement as the cousins dared the other to make a move. The both of them grunted, sending out their own respective projectiles along the ground.

"**Reppuken!"**

"**Yami Barai!"**

The waves of wind and flames crashed against each other, and canceled out, prompting them to release another one. And again, it neutralized each other. The cousins zoomed forward and met in a clash resulting in a small shock wave that cracked the ground.

"This is gonna be good." remarked Ren.

"Loser treats the victor?" asked Jaune.

Grinning at each other, they pulled back and began trading blows. The Son of Dante caught his cousin's fist and twisted his arm, pulling him for an over the shoulder throw. Ren gathered compressed air into the palm of his hand and shot straight at Jaune's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him into a tree.

While the blond recovered, Ren dashed forward and elbowed him straight in the gut, quickly following it up with a palm thrust to the chest, exuding out some wind to increase the damage. This led to Jaune crashing through a row of trees, causing him to tumble down. Rather than continue to fight, Ren opted to hurry towards the designated spot. But-

"You think I'm just gonna let you get away, 'cuz?"

A phantom arm pulled him right into Jaune, straight into a powerful uppercut that flipped over the pseudo-devil. Jumping back, Jaune launched another Yami Barai at Ren while he was down. However, he boosted himself up with a small twister, also dispersing the wave of blaze. With him in the air, Ren took the opportunity to blast Jaune with multiple Shippukens.

Accessing Dark Slayer, the Son of Vergil blinked around the projectiles that were sent his way with ease. Getting an idea, he did a back flip, kicking one of the Shippukens back at Ren. Not at all expecting that, he was knocked out of the air and crashed back onto the ground. As he tumbled down, he rolled right back up, allowing himself to quickly recover.

Jaune clenched his demonic arm, changing it to its icy form. **"Ice Breaker!" **

Letting out a shout, he shot out a beam of ice at Ren. He was unable to react with its speed and was frozen in place. Jaune slid over to his cousin and knocked him up in the air, also freeing him from his cold prison. Changing his arm back to Devil Bringer, he grabbed him with a Buster, harshly dragging him down, also making him bounce. Jaune jumped up and slammed down his spectral fist onto Ren, creating numerous spider-web cracks on the ground.

Dropping down, he panted a bit. While his fights with the guardians of his items didn't take all that much effort, his fight with Kyo, however, did tire him a bit. He had expended energy to honor a guy he never met by using his techniques against his rival. This was an opportunity Ren didn't throw away.

Spinning himself up, he crushed about two Wind Dusts, giving him a power boost. Gathering energy into his hands and charging up the thruster in his gauntlets and greaves, Ren charged forward and struck Jaune straight in the chest, swiftly executing an upwards corkscrew kick that sent the both of them rising into the sky. Flipping himself, the Son of Dante stomped Jaune back down. He dove down, and slammed his fist onto his cousin's body, releasing the charged up energy.

"**Raging Storm!"**

From the ground, a geyser of energy burst out and enshrouded the two of them, repeatedly striking Jaune. A few seconds later, and Ren ceased his attack, panting quite heavily as he had spent quite a bit of power. Wiping away the sweat, he turned to head towards the last spot, before sighing in slight frustration.

Turning around, Jaune pushed himself up, looking no worse for wear. He wiped away some of the blood on his lips, his wounds closing up as he smirked at his cousin. "Didn't think you'd have to in you. But I'm not done just yet. I can still fight."

Roaring, he partly released some of his devil powers, strengthening himself. Jaune clenched his fists and slipped into another battle ready stance. Ren ran a hand through his hair and looked at his cousin with a grin. The both of them charged up to their gauntlets and ran at each other for one last clash. It was unfortunate for Ren that his previous attack had left him exhausted and weakened, allowing to Jaune to overtake him easily.

The Son of Dante groaned, lightly wincing as his Aura shimmered, before shattering. Jaune walked passed him and crouched down to retrieve the ruby, which had fallen out from Ren's grasp. As he was about to apologize to him, a drone had flown in with an announcement.

"**WINNER - ATHENA ASAMIYA!"**

At this, the two sighed in complete disappointment, with Jaune tossing away the ruby to help Ren stand up.

"Well, that's unfortunate."

* * *

**"Messatsu!" **he cried out once more.

Akuma unleashed a large wave of purple energy, sending it at Rugal. The head of the Hakkeshu grunted and was forced to take the full brunt of the attack, almost pushing him back. Once it had finished, however, Akuma went on the offensive. Again, he had sent out spinning whirlwind kicks, forcing the megalomaniac's back against the wall. Akuma ceased, only to kick himself off and into the air, sending out a dive kick that stunned Rugal. Grunting, Akuma grabbed him by the neck and delivered a savage neck chop, smacking him onto the floor.

The former human flipped back, avoiding the net of electricity that Rugal had manifested in an attempt to get his guard down. The redheaded megalomaniac growled and surged electricity to the palm of his hand.

**"Raikouken!"**

He thrust his arm forward and sent out a large ball of lightning, which managed to hit Akuma, electrocuting him. Charging forward, Rugal coated his arm in a sharp energy, and sent out a rising slash.

**"Psycho Sword!"**

Akuma grunted as a large gash appeared on his torso, blood spurting out, but nothing too deep. He grasped his wound and couldn't help but grin, even though blood was spilling down.

**"Incredible. This is truly one of the greatest fights I've ever had. In spite of your methods, I will remember your name, Rugal."**

**"Ho? And why is that? You think that you will kill me right here? I don't think so. That power of yours is too awesome for you to possess."**

Charging, Rugal roared and coated himself in a web of lightning, preventing Akuma from physically attacking him. However, this didn't deter the Master of Fists. The red-haired fighter roared and fired off multiple fire balls, all starting to whittle down the makeshift barrier.

However, he wasn't fast enough, as Rugal had shoulder bashed him into the wall, both slamming and shocking him. But, he had walked in on Akuma's trap. The former human grabbed Rugal by the throat and sent out a pulse of energy, that rocketed him back, right into the suit of armor that in his office, which also had a sword, conveniently piercing him.

Akuma fell to his knees, panting, his one weakness starting to creep up to him. He had immense power and strength, that much is true. But there was one thing he lacked - stamina. He can dish out pain, but he couldn't take it.

That's why it was crucial for him to always have absolute control over the battle. But now, he and Rugal seemed to be pretty matched. Nonetheless, Akuma could only smirk and punch the floor as a glint of excitement appeared in his eyes. The final clash was inevitable. He stood up and prepared to use his most devastating attack.

**"Prepare yourself!" **he declared.

Rugal grinned, charging up for his attack as well. The two powerful entities clashed, causing a ripple of energy to rip through the entire room, and would've seeped out into the outside, were it for not the building's entire purpose is to redirect power into the seal of Orochi to further weaken it.

A large smoke filled the room, with as a large fire engulfed it as well. If a normal person walked in, they wouldn't have been able to see through it. Until finally, the smoke started to clear, with the flames parting to show who had been the ultimate victor.

**"HE HE HE HE HE HE HEH. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"**

It was Rugal. The Mad Genocider held up Akuma's limp corpse, draining every ounce of the former human's power and assimilating it into himself. A large grin crossed his lips, his prosthetic eye glowing a dark red before being replaced, his eye regenerating as he laughed.

**"I told you, didn't I? You don't deserve this awesome power, but now it's in its rightful place - with me!"**

Orochi Energy, mixed with Evil Intent? There was no doubting it, Rugal had gained tremendous power… He has basically become a demi-God!

Looking up at Akuma's empty husk, Rugal's grin become twisted as he blew it up, turning the dead body into nothing but dust. Clutching his head, the megalomaniac began laughing triumphantly. Now, no one can stop him! He was practically unbeatable!

Glancing at his monitor, he was a bit disappointed that Jaune did not win, but it didn't really matter. He got what he wanted. Controlling his new powers, he willed them away and returned to his normal looking. Putting back on his coat, he strode out of the room and went to meet up with the winner.

After that, he'll tie up the loose ends.

* * *

Jaune leaned on the pillar, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. The awarding ceremony was happening in the background, with Rugal handing over the large check to the purple-haired idol. The blond sighed, feeling disappointed and shame that he didn't win.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he opened his eyes to see Pyrrha staring at him with a comforting smile, his family right behind her. "Come on, Jaune. Stop moping around. It doesn't matter if you didn't win. You tried your best, that's all that matters."

"It's not that, Pyr. I wanted to win, so I could take you all out for a treat, just a way to show my appreciation and gratitude to you all."

Dante grabbed his nephew in a head lock, giving him an affectionate noogie. "Well aren't you just being affectionate."

Everyone laughed at Jaune struggling to get out of the hold. However, things had to be cut short as an android approached the group to direct them to the after-match banquet. Ren stayed behind, trailing after his cousin.

"Hey, Jaune. There's something I need to tell you." Seeing he's got his attention, he continued. "During the event, one of the Hakkesshu ambushed me. Don't worry, I dealt with him. It's just that, his last words confused me. Something about the end being their leader, and that the paradox has the highest chance of killing him."

"Leader? Was he talking about Orochi, or the head of their little group?"

"I don't know." he admitted. "How many more of the Hakkesshu do we have to deal with? There was Spettro, Glassare, _**Vice**_, and Noriaki. There are still four others that are unaccounted."

The Arc Devil shook his head. "No. There's only two. The fire one, I found her dead two weeks ago. And the embodiment of earth has gone off the grid, apparently. So that only leaves two more that we don't know of."

"I see… We can think about it more tomorrow. And I don't know about you, but I'm famished."

Cut to the banquet, all of the contestants, along with their companions dined on the delicious food that Rugal's servants served. Ren had to restrain Nora when she learned that there's a whole platter dedicated to pancakes. At the corner of hall, Jaune ate his food, joined by both Pyrrha and Kyrie.

Looking up from his plate, he felt his lips tug at the corner, seeing a droplet of sauce trailing down Kyrie's mouth. Grabbing a napkin, he moved to wipe it off before it could stain her dress. She mumbled a thank you, and continued on eating. Sighing, he dropped his utensils and looked at his friend. Time to clear the air.

"I think it's about time we talked."

Pyrrha sent her boyfriend an admonishing look. "Really, Jaune? Here?"

Glancing around the tables, everyone seemed very absorbed with eating and chatting with each other, the sheer volume of their voices would drown out their own words.

"Yeah, I think this is a good place. Everyone's pretty busy, no one's gonna bother listening in on us." Taking a deep breath, Jaune looked at Kyrie right in the eye with a gentle expression. "Pyrrha already told me, but, I want to hear it from you, Kyrie. Do you... really love me?"

Averting her gaze, a healthy amount of red dusted the younger redhead's cheeks. She shyly twiddled her hair as she answered him. "I do. I have for quite a while. Back in Fortuna, it was just a little crush. Infatuation, even. It grew when you saved me. Somewhere down the line, I realized that I had feelings for you... The day you and Pyrrha announced that you were dating."

The two flinched involuntarily. Kyrie then continued.

"I admit, it really hurt when I heard that. For a time, I thought that it was unfair, but who was I to say that? You two have known each other far longer, and it's obvious that you really cared for one another. In the end, I decided to set aside my own feelings and happiness for you two and just silently watch in the background."

Jaune mulled over his thoughts. Kyrie really did love him, but can he really do it? Date two ladies at, the same time, who are also sisters. Admittedly, just the thought of it, he really liked the idea. He really cared for the two of them. They were kind, caring, and very beautiful. A few more minutes of thinking and Jaune was ready to answer.

"I-"

"Pardon my intrusion."

The three looked to the right and saw Mature approach their table. Obviously, Pyrrha recognized her sponsor's secretary and greeted her. "Ms. Mature, is something the matter?"

The blonde gave the redhead an assuring smile, before glancing at Jaune. "I just need to talk with Mr. Arc here for a brief moment. There's something important I need to tell him. And it's crucial that the two of us go somewhere more private."

Sensing no malicious intent from the woman, the blond stood up. "Sure, as long as it's quick. Sorry, Kyrie. Guess that answers gonna have to wait."

"It's fine... I've waited for a few years. Another day won't hurt."

The blond felt a pang of guilt, but quickly pushed it down as he went up to follow the secretary. Patty noticed her brother walking away with a woman, and couldn't help but have her eyes wide in disbelief. There was no mistaking it. It was her!

Glancing around her table, making sure that her mother and sisters were preoccupied while she slunk away and followed after the two.

* * *

"So, what exactly did you want to talk about, Ms. Mature?"

Jaune leaned against the wall as Rugal's secretary closed the door. She had led him to an empty storage room far away from the on-going festivities. Perfect for some privacy. The blonde parted her bang and sighed as Orochi energy exuded off her body. In an instant, Jaune was on-guard, summoning Yamato to him.

"So, you're one of the last members of the Hakkeshu?"

"That, I am." she admitted. She ceased her energy and sat down. "But I'm not here to fight. I'm here to divulge information...against the final member of the Hakkeshu."

The Son of Vergil looked at her incredulously, not changing his stance kept up his guard. "Why the hell should I believe you? You don't get anything for betraying your comrade. For all I know, you're trying to lure me in a trap."

"But I do... You see, Mature isn't really my real name." the blonde revealed. "It's just the guise I took under when I serve Orochi. My true name...is Nina Lowell."

"Lowell?" parroted Jaune. He felt as if he heard the name somewhere else. He searched through his mind, trying to pinpoint where it was. His eyes widened in realization as he finally made the connection. . "Y-You're Patty's birth mother!"

Mature nodded in confirmation. She took out her locket and flipped it open, showing a picture of her holding Patty as an infant. "I had to leave her behind because I didn't want her wrapped up in this Orochi business. I'm thankful to your family for taking care of her, but I really want to be with my daughter again. But I can't do that with the threat of him still looming around."

Jaune considered what to do. This woman had possibly killed numerous people in the name of her deity, but like earlier, he couldn't sense any lies or malicious intentions. Just the want to be reunited with the one she gave birth to. Sighing, the Devil Arc clicked Yamato back into her scabbard.

"What exactly do you want me to do?"

"First tell me, did Noriaki tell you anything?"

"If by Noriaki, you mean the guy that Ren beat? Yeah. He did. Pretty cryptic. Something about a paradox defeating the end, or something. The hell does all of that mean?"

Nina smiled, fiddling with her locket. "It's easy, really. When Noriaki mentioned a paradox, he meant you - the son of a cambion, and a nephilim. A union that should not be. Two opposites, joined in peaceful matrimony instead of being locked in a hateful situation. You and your sisters are quite special. You most of all, also having the power one of the Sacred Treasures."

"I see… But I still can't exactly fully trust you. If you just wanted to live a peaceful life with Patty, then why rejoin the Hakkesshu?"

Sighing, she played with her, a look of sorrow on her face. "Really, I never had the intention of serving Lord Orochi. Perhaps back then, I would have loyally served him, but the day that I gave birth to Patty, things changed. I went off the grid and decided to live in isolation with just the two of us, but we were discovered by Glassare and the last head. They demanded that I come back with them to fulfill my duties, but I refused and ran away. Naturally, they didn't take kindly to it and hunted us down. Somewhere down the line, I realized I couldn't keep on running, Sooner or later, they would find us and kill me, possibly taking my daughter to bend to their will. So, I had to give her away and go with them to spare her the life of being under Lord Orochi. Please, kill the last of the Hakkeshu! I beg of you, or else, he'll kill not only you, but-"

Nina couldn't finish her sentence as an arm protruded through her stomach, coating in blood and guts. Behind her was Rugal. He looked at her with disappointment.

"A shame that you weren't fully loyal to the cause. But you've only yourself to blame for this. No one betrays Lord Orochi and gets away with it!" he declared.

Rugal grabbed her by the head and absorbed her powers, adding it into his own. Jaune stood by, unable to react at all at the revelation of the final head's identity, and the sheer shock of the sudden events. Once she had been fully drained, Rugal tossed her aside. Her eyes were completely dull, no life in it whatsoever, staring right at her broken locket, before dispersing into nothing but dust.

Patty couldn't see much from the keyhole, only that her brother was facing off against Rugal, for some reason.

Jaune composed himself before roaring in anger, his pseudo-Trigger springing to life. Grabbing Red Queen, he charged at the blond with hatred burning in his eyes. Rugal, however, was more focused on flicking the blood off his suit. He effortlessly dodged all of Jaune's attacks. With his new powers, it was all but a cinch for two fingers, he caught Red Queen's blade, stopping in its track, surprising Jaune.

"Is that it?" yawned out Rugal. "Very disappointing. I was expecting far more from you, Jaune Arc."

He pulled the sword out of Jaune's hands and tossed it aside. Before he could react, the last Hakkesshu gripped him around the neck and tightly squeezed it. The Omega smirked and pulsed electricity into his hand, electrocuting Jaune.

Luckily, he managed to break free and kicked back the man in red. Growling, he called out Yamato and prepared to attack, only to be dragged by Rugal and slammed him on it, causing a great explosion of Orochi energy that severely weakened him.

Coupled with his earlier fights, and now being struck with a powerful surprise attack, it was no wonder that Jaune was already at his last wind. The Leader of the Hakkeshu grabbed him the hair and slammed him further into the wall. Materializing some sort of energy, he stuck them to Jaune's wrist and legs, effectively gluing them to the wall.

The Son of Vergil struggled against his restraints, but whatever they were, they were hard to break. He tried to pound it with his free hand, but it didn't even budged. Rugal walked up to the fallen katana, inspecting it with near reverence.

"The Yamato - one of the Dark Knight's legendary sword. A sword so powerful, it was used to separate this world from the demons. Legends say that it can through almost anything."

A cruel smirk plastered on his face. Rugal dashed forward, the sword in hand. Jaune's eyes widened and tried to block the katana, only for it to pierce through and stab him in the heart. The blond gaped in astonishment, as the sword of his father poked his heart. Rugal pulled back and finally restrained his Devil Bringer, staring at the weakened boy with a look of contempt.

"Like I said, it's such a disappointment that you fell so easily, but alas, all the better to realize our goals. Farewell, Grandson of Sparda!"

With no interruptions, he completely drove the katana into Jaune and pierced his heart. Naturally, the blond writhed and screamed in pain, but could do nothing due to his restraints. Rugal grinned and jammed it in even further until he stopped resisting and slumped forward, his body going limp as it ceased of any movement.

Jaune Arc…was dead.

Releasing his grip on the blade, Rugal laugh triumphantly as he teleported out of the room, not even taking notice of Patty's terrified and retreating presence.

* * *

**Here it is. First part of the finale. And to be honest, I'm a bit excited in writing this. Sorry for the short absence, I was writing out some chapters for the Chronicles, if you guys didn't know it existed.**

**While I'm excited at writing this, I'm not happy with Noriaki's death. I honestly planned out something different, but I made due with the chapters left for this Arc.**

**Remember, if any of you have questions or anything at all to ask, leave it in the reviews down below. As always, keep safe everyone and have a good day. **


	20. God Ultimate

Patty ran. That was the only thing that she could think of to do. What else could she do, besides cry? She just saw her brother be easily killed. By a man revered to be one of the nicest and also strongest people on Remnant. No one would believe her, and she couldn't possibly do anything against him.

Patty wanted to bury herself into someone's arms, cry out in sorrow and anguish and just let out the pain that she felt. She didn't even get to confirm if the woman that she saw her mother or not. It was just by luck that she ran into Pyrrha.

"Patty, where have you been? You just vanished. Mrs. Arc is very worried about you."

That's when she noticed the tears running down the blonde child's cheeks and the sound of her sniffling. She knelt down, gently grasping Patty's shoulder with worry as she used her other hand to wipe away her tears.

"What's wrong? Patty, why are you crying?"

"I-it's Jaune! H-he's…" she whimpered.

At the mention of his name, Pyrrha grew even more worried. "Jaune? What about him? Did you follow? He's just going to meet up with Ms. Nature and-"

"Mr. Rugal killed him!" Patty blurted out.

Time seemed to stop around the young redhead. She could hear something inside of her shatter. No. She must've heard her wrong. There's no possibly way that that was true. "What...did you just say, Patty?"

"I-I saw them… Mr. Rugal killed Jaune!"

Disbelief, horror and sorrow filled the older Nikos sister. When she heard that Jaune was in a short coma, she had panicked and fretted so badly, she had to take a day out of school. Pathetic as it may sound…she's grown very attached to Jaune. To her, he was a pillar of support. Of courage. Of inspiration. Someone she can always think of to brighten up her day, and make her smile. And during the days they would spend time together, he felt the same.

It made her so happy when they got together. It strengthened her motivation to become stronger, so that one day, she could stand beside him and fight with him. The dream was gone. He was dead. But her thoughts were then promptly replaced with something else.

She stood up and bolted, surprising Patty. The kid couldn't even react in time. Pyrrha was already long gone. Shaking her head, she pushed herself up and started heading back to the banquet hall. She still needed comfort, preferably from her mother.

* * *

Eve silently walked through the streets of Mistral, wearing a hoodie and a pair of shades to hide her horns, as well as her scar. She carried a guitar case, which held her weapon just in case she ever needed it. She decided to take up Jaune's offer and get to know the family of her teacher. Create ties…with humans.

Luckily, no one could recognize her, and she blended in perfectly among the crowd. Then, out of nowhere, the sky turned night, as if darkness had overtaken the light. Everyone looked up and began muttering to themselves, wondering what was going on.

Then, a source of light shone on them, coming right above the Bernstein Tower. Eve's eye widened, recognizing what it was… The light was a portal. A horde of grotesque creatures began to swarm out out of it. They looked like the cross of a snake, fused with many untold horrors that made them all the more terrifying.

When a group landed before them, it let out a ear-grating shriek that sent the people in a mass wide panic. It showed no sort of morality as it started to tear through everything - human, Faunus and even the buildings and cars. Nothing was spared from the havoc.

Eve pushed through the retreating crowd, heading to face off against the monsters. Opening up the guitar case, she pulled out Wilt and Blush and charged in for a fight. She pulled the trigger on her scabbard and fired out her blade, striking one of the demons in the head with it. Dashing forward, she grabbed it by the handle and sliced it clean from the neck to its right hip.

This distracted them long enough for Eve to shout at the stunned crowd as she sheathed back her sword. "Run, now!"

And they finally regained the sense to do so. The Disciple of the Dark Slayer jumped back, deflecting the claws of the snake-like demons with her scabbard, before swiftly drawing it out and decapitating another one of them. She spun around and sliced through two more.

She rolled to the side, dodging some sort of acidic projectile that they spat. Eve kicked herself into the air and shot down the ones airborne. As she fell, she split another one of them in two, blood gushing out heavily.

On the peak of Bernstein Tower, Rugal rumbled with dark mirth, watching the Kobras slaughter people of all ages. **"Go forth, my fellow servants. Wreak havoc upon these ungrateful insects, so that our Lord's vision may be realized! SLAUGHTER THEM, SO THAT THIS WORLD MAY BE SAVED!"**

Looking down, a frown crossed his lips as he saw Eve fighting against the Kobras. This inspired some of the other Huntsmen and Huntresses in the area to join in. It wouldn't be long, until the Black Knights came in. His frown was wiped away and replaced with a grin as a much more stronger beast emerged from the portal.

The monster resembled a a large tree, as if given life. The Treants, they were called. Two of them dropped down and let out a loud shriek that caused glass to shatter, and the ground to quake. Eve sized up the beast and merely gripped her weapon tightly as she and the others prepared to fight.

* * *

"The hell is even happening?!" shouted out Lady as she rapidly pulled her triggers, emptying her clips into the horde of Kobras that crashed into the banquet hall.

Most of the fighters had fled in search of safety, though some had stayed to help fend off against these monsters. Dante cracked a grin, using Coyote-A, his sawed-off shotgun. Utilizing his Gunslinger style, it was a cinch for him to kill them off with just a single shot. From behind, one of them tried to pounce him on the back, only to be met with a face filled with lead.

"Twenty Lien says this has to do with Orochi!" Dante remarked.

Seeing him as the bigger threat, the present horde decided to focus all attention on him. The Son of Sparda smirked and spun his shotgun around like a pair nunchucks, blasting them repeatedly until they were all covered in holes. Reloading, he kicked over one of the monsters, before nodding.

"It has to be Orochi. Besides, I don't think I've seen any of these demons while I was at Hell."

Another group of Kobras dropped down, hissing at them menacingly. A fearful yelp caught their attention. Turning around, Patty was frozen in terror, looking at the monsters with a scared expression. Before they could even take a step forward, all of their heads rolled off and onto the floor, Jeanne slamming her katana back into its scabbard.

Patty threw herself into her mother's arms and sobbed, heavily surprising her. "Honey, what's wrong? Don't worry, if you're afraid of the demons, then we'll-"

"B-big brother is dead..." she hiccuped out.

Everyone looked at Patty with astonishment. Disbelief was well written on their faces, with Nora finding the courage to speak up. "W-what? Patty-cakes, what do you mean?"

"Mr. Rugal, I-I saw him stab big brother in the heart, a-and then he stopped moving!"

Lady and Trish looked absolutely shocked. Ren wrapped an arm around the crying Nora, his head bowed slightly as tears fell down his cheeks. Luna looked away, biting her lips as she desperately tried not to cry. Dante had a blank look on his face, his eyes shadowed by his hair. Jeanne, of course, was hit the worst. From devastation to anguish, her eyes were clouded with tears as she realized that she lost another one of her children.

The entire hall began to shake, until the roof was torn off by a Treant. It looked down on them angrily and tossed aside the roof to grab them. Before it could do so, K' appeared and struck, kicking it in the head, his foot aflame.

With it distracted, Dante let out a loud roar of rage, flying into the demon of Orochi in his Perfected Devil Trigger, bursting a hole through its chest. Without pause, he ascended further into the sky, before slicing it in half with his Rebellion Tail, burning down the remains with his mere presence

Descending, he grabbed K' and let him down. With a quick nod, he looked at the others and explained the situation. "The whole kingdom's gone to shit. All of these demons are spotted all throughout the entirety of Mistral. The BK's already been doing the best they can to fend them off while every able Hunters are getting the people to safety."

Suddenly, Eve crashed through a wall, being carried over by a Boarbatusk, a boar-like Grimm. Noir followed after and launched it into the air with a firestorm tornado. Willing away Agni and Rudra, she pulled out her Murasama blade and sliced it in half, her blade ignoring its defenses. The redhead dropped down, falling onto her feet. Immediately, K' recognized her, but was stopped by Noir.

"Don't. We're under siege by demons. Let her be for now. Besides, we'll need all the help we can get."

The dark-skinned man grunted and extinguished the flame on his hand. By now, the others have recovered over the revelation of Jaune's demise. Jeanne stood up, and faced Eve. The cow Faunus gulped and bowed at her.

"I-it's an honor to meet you. Master Vergil spoke very fondly of you, Mrs. Arc."

Although surprised, the Arc Matriarch didn't bother asking, not with what's happening outside. Noir went up to her little sister, grabbing her by the shoulder.

"Come on, Patty. Let's get you out of here and to somewhere more safe."

"Not yet, Noir..." cut in Jeanne, her tone completely blank and flat. "You need to go and pick someone up first. Patty knows where he is."

The First Child felt absolutely put off by the lack of emotion from her mother. Nonetheless, she nodded and ushered Patty to lead them to whoever it was that their mother wanted them to pick up. The young child looked very hesitant, but went through with it in the end, prompting Noir and K' to follow.

"Wait... Where's Pyrrha and Kyrie?" voiced out Ren.

The Devil May Cry crew looked around, and there was indeed no sign of the young redhead. Dante, who was still in his demonic form, crossed his arms. **"We'll just have to hope they managed to get to safety... ****Come on! Mistral needs us!"**

* * *

Jaune loudly groaned out, cradling his head as a migraine bombarded him as he slowly sat up. He softly rubbed his temples, trying to push it away. With luck, it soon subsided, allowing him to open his eyes. The blond grunted in surprise as he was on some sort of grassy plain that stretched out for miles, spotting some beds of flowers. The sky was a clear blue, with no cloud in sight. And the sun softly shimmered, but not too bright.

"Where am I? What…is this place?" he asked, more to himself, rather than anyone that could be near by.

The Son of Vergil got up to his feet, scanning his surroundings further to see if there would be someone that can tell him his location. Unfortunately, apart from the peaceful animals that seem to hop around the place, there was nary a person, other than himself.

Without any other choice, he trudged forward, hoping to find at least one person. Jaune clutched his head, migraine coming back a bit. He simply shook it off and just kept on going as he tried to make sense of what was going on.

"Last thing I remember was talking with Ms. Mature, before blacking out somehow and ending up…wherever this place is." he thought out loud, taking another gander around him.

"Jaune?!"

The blond felt his blood freeze at the sound of the voice. He knew it all too well. Haunting him through the nights, scarring him because of his idiocy. But how? She was supposed to be dead. Slowly turning around, his bright, blue eyes meeting another pair with the same shade as his. He could feel himself tremble at the very sight of the person that he dearly missed, even to this day.

"Nera…?" he asked, unsure if she was real.

Standing in front of him was indeed his older sister, who had been long dead for many years. Nera said nothing, looking horrified at Jaune's presence. Before she could say anything, however, her brother pulled her in for a tearful hug, repeatedly telling her how sorry he was.

It still didn't register to her, more focused to wondering as to why her brother was in this location. "Jaune… What are you doing in this place?! You shouldn't be here!"

Breaking away, the blond wiped away the tears in his eyes, looking at his sister with utmost confusion. "I was hoping you'd tell me? Where are we? And what do you mean I shouldn't be here?"

Nera glanced away, biting her lips in nervousness. Sighing, she decided to give it to her brother straight. "We're in the land in between the living and the dead. They call this Purgatory… And you can only come here if you're dead."

Jaune's eyes widened, his mouth agape in complete horror. He…was dead?! He clutched both sides of his head as the migraine came back full force, making him scream in agony as the memories of his death played back. Nera could do nothing but watch as her brother processed the revelation.

"N-No… I, I can't be dead! Not yet… Crap. I, I need to get back. They don't know about Rugal!"

Nera shook her head, a frown crossing her face. "I'm afraid there isn't much we can do, little bro. No one can come back, except for some pretty rare occasions. You'll be staying here until you ultimate fate is decided."

The Son of Vergil gritted his teeth and pounded the ground in rage. He kept doing this until practically burrowed a hole through the ground. Jaune wept, but was more angry that he got himself killed so easily. The dead daughter could only wrap him in a tight embrace, rubbing his back in an effort to comfort her raging brother.

* * *

Dante, still in his Perfected Devil Trigger, hovered over his sister-in-law as the two of them watched the on-going battles. Ren and Nora had ran off to assist the Hunters in their efforts to evacuate the people, while Lady, Trish and Luna helped the BK drive off the demons.

The Son of Sparda was pretty worried for Jeanne. Even now, her face remained blank and emotionless. The amount of guilt and grief that she must be feeling, he knew exactly how it felt years ago. The half-devil grunted, crossing his arms he looked over Jeanne once again.

"**I know you're probably beating yourself up over what Patty said, but trust me when I say that things will end up on a brighter note. Look, Jaune wouldn't want you to-"**

"I know." she interrupted him, her face still blank…before tears flowed down her beautiful face once again, tightly clenching her hand to the point that it drew blood. "But it's just- After Nera died, I promised myself that as long as I drew breath, I will never have to bury another one my children. But, for it to happen and with none of us the wiser, it just really aggravates me… I'm a failure of a mother."

Fluttering down, Dante tightly clasped her shoulder, a frown on his face. **"You're not. None of us anticipated it. You weren't the gun that took Jaune's life. So stop acting like you're reason he's gone."**

Turning back, he watched many people fell to their knees, praying to whatever god they worshiped, hoping for a miracle as a Treant closed in on them. The Red Demon let go of his sister-in-law and readied to intervene.

"**You can either stand back and watch, or jump in and help. Your call."**

Dante dove down and rammed right into the Treant, bursting through its chest. Flying up, he concentrated his energy and blasted the tree demon with his demonic fire, burning it to ashes. The people of Mistral looked up and were immediately frightened at the sight of the half-devil, until it magnified as more Kobras started swarming in.

The Son of Sparda crashed down, creating a small crater that obliterated some of the serpent-like monsters, which also served as a gap so that the civilians could escape. They didn't think to do this until Jeanne dropped down, unleashing a wave of light that bisected them with her blade.

"**Don't worry, we're on your side. Run, we'll take care of them."**

The sight of a demon and an angel fighting together was something they never thought to see, but were very grateful for it. The civilians quickly ran away, allowing the two half-lings to fight without worry for casualty. More Treants dropped down, accompanied by another horde of Kobras. The two sported a bloodthirsty grin and let out a war cry as the two of them charged into the fray.

Jeanne deflected their attempts on chomping her down. Drawing her blade, the nephilim performed an unrelenting series of slashes at the horde, mowing them down painfully. She blocked an attack from behind, spinning around to swiftly decapitate her assauleters before moving on to bisect another.

The Arc Matriarch quirked a brow as the Kobras began to gather onto spot, crawling onto each other as they seemed to meld into one. The new being towered over the mother by a few feet, its entire body covered in scales, yet still resembled a humanoid shape. It hissed at the blonde with its forked tongue and made a punching motion, a nest of snakes crawling out and flying towards Jeanne.

She dashed back and unsheathed her blade at blinding speeds, cutting down the serpents that were launched at her. Tilting her head, Jeanne decided it was to display why she actually received the moniker 'Angel of Terror'. Rising into the sky, the nephilim held out her blade, a bright flourish of white light enshrouded like a coat of flame.

The Kobra sensed the danger in the coming attack and unleashed more snakes right at right her. With a loud roar, Jeanne blinked away just as the snakes reached her, stabbing the large demon right in the gut. Wordlessly, she lifted it up through her blade, watching as it writhed in pain. She grinned evilly and fired lasers from her eyes, melting off its head ever so slowly.

Once it was completely dead, she pushed it off. Turning around, yet another horde of mindless drones charged. Once more, she rose up into the sky and let out another terrifying shriek as she released a wide-spread laser beam that turned all to ash. With a satisfied grunt, she left Dante to his own devices and went to find more dummies to vent out her frustration.

Dante ascended into the sky once again, doing battle against the tree beasts. He laughed as he easily avoided all of their slow attacks. Rebellion moved on his own, slicing up their hands as they got close. Clenching his hands, spikes of fire sprouting from his wrists. The Son of Sparda lunged at Orochi's minions and swung his blades, easily ripping and tearing through them like paper.

One of the Treants managed to surprise him, growing out rather sturdy tendrils that restrained him…had he not been in his current form. Accumulating his energy, Dante released an explosion of demonic energy that perfectly disintegrated the tree demons that were near-by. However, this came at a cost. Dante was forced out of his DT and fell to the ground and on his knees. The exchange for such a devastating attack, which made him vulnerable.

While the Son of Sparda recovered, more demons swarmed in and moved to take advantage of his state. Before they can reach him, however, a hail of bullets rained down, tearing them to shreds, momentarily stopping them.

"Hope you don't mind me cutting in, luv."

Dante laughed as Cereza dropped down, wielding two sky blue pistols, and oddly enough, there were two others lined up on her heels. The Son of Sparda took her offered hand, pulling himself and brushed off the dust on him.

"Great timing, babe. I was getting kinda lonely."

The Kobras recovered, letting out a pissed off hiss at the couple. Dante cocked a smirk and drew out Rebellion. He and Cereza struck a pose before charging with a cry.

"Let's party!"

The Son of Sparda roared and leaped forward for a quick lunge attack that skewered through some, and knocked back the others. Rotating himself, he launched them all into the air with a giant swing them and right towards Cereza.

The witch giggled and blasted them with her magical bullets, sending them higher up. She break danced into a handstand and took aim with the guns on her heels, both glowing brightly and shooting out two shots infused with magic, blowing them to smithereens.

Cereza pushed herself into a flip, avoiding globs of acid. Looking up, she saw numerous Kobras on the rooftops, staring at them menacingly. Hissing again, they started spitting at the doctor.

Smirking, she haughtily flipped her hair and blocked all of the projectiles with a Glyph fired out from her guns, all the while striking a pose. The sequence remained unbroken until a trio of the Kobras spat out a stream of the acid, taking her by surprise.

Luckily, she had managed to conjure up a barrier around herself. Unfortunately, however, it came at the cost of her weapons, melting under the bubbly green liquid. Cereza sighed in frustration, throwing a lazy glare at the Kobras, before glancing at her lover.

"Dante, looks like my toys are broken. Can you be a dear and let the boys come out to play?"

Ducking over a lunging demon and swiftly piercing its chest, Dante looked at the lady with a smirk and nodded. "Of course. Anything for you, babe." He pushed away his coat and drew out his signature guns, tossing them towards her. "Be good, now!"

Cereza caught the two pistols, a glint in her eyes. "Ebony, Ivory? Shall we dance?" The Witch Doctor lined up her shots at the Kobras above and wildly fired at them, the bullets made out of her magic.

Orochi's demons cried in pain being shredded down, while a small number of them managed to evade, retaliating by spitting out a stream of acid, letting it fall like rain. Dante grabbed Cereza by the hand, twirling her around, striking another pose as they spoke as one.

**"Stand still!"**

An orb of negative colors washed over the surrounding area, leaving them tinted in gray and everything that was in motion paused. The couple swiftly moved themselves out of the way and jumped up to the remaining Kobras, finishing them off with a powerful series of strikes.

Time swiftly resumed, and the demons were flung back, already dead. The two smirked in satisfaction, with Dante running a hand through his hair. He ran up to the ledge and saw that many of the demons still persisted, joined in by the Treants. Cereza walked up to him and gently squeezed his hand.

"Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" he intelligently asked, facing his girlfriend. "What do you mean?"

The doctor looked at him with a quirked brow and a worried look. "I heard what happened. It must hurt to have lost another family..."

Dante's face remained passive, and squeezed back her hand. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. The light will shine our way." he responded cryptically. Letting go, he stood on the ledge, and changed into his Devil Trigger, having recovered enough demonic energy. **"Come on. Others still need help."**

* * *

Rugal was at the summit of his tower, staring down at the many fools that were brutally slaughtered. He could only grin and sip his wine in glee as even the Hunters fell. Lowering his glass, a lightly surprised look crossed his face, before it was promptly replaced with that of amusement.

"Well, isn't this surprising. Normally, you call ahead before visiting."

Standing behind him was Pyrrha, gripping her weapons tightly as she glared heatedly at the blond, feeling nothing but hate and contempt for the man. "I know what you did... And I'll make you pay for it!"

Rugal said nothing and merely smirked, tossing away his glass of wine, pushing himself off of his chair. The blond cracked his knuckles and his neck, curling around his fingers as he stared down the enraged redhead with an amused look.

"Show me a good time, little Hoplite."

Pyrrha sneered and tossed her shield towards him like a disk. Rugal batted it aside and fired off a Reppuken, forcing the Huntress-in-training to jump. While in the air, she threw Milo in an attempt for an attack, but was caught.

Smirking at his distracted state, Pyrrha quickly activated her Semblance and pulled Akuou back towards her, hitting Rugal in the back of the head. With him disoriented, the older Nikos bashed her shield into his face, following it up with a roundhouse kick.

Retrieving her javelin, she turned it into its xiphos form and started swinging. Rugal composed himself and effortlessly stopped her attacks with a single arm, only spinning around to move himself or change positions. It frustrated her to no end, none of her attacking even hitting.

Grinning, on the next strike, he caught Milo in between his fingers and twisted her arm around, disarming her. Cocking back his fist, Rugal tried to punch Pyrrha, only for it to be blocked. He continued to his attack, unrelenting, while Pyrrha just kept on defending.

Before she could make her next move, Rugal laughed and launched a Genocide Cutter tore the shield from her grip, distracting her. Pyrrha didn't even get the time to blink as her former sponsor grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to the wall, as Akuoo fell back down with a loud clang.

The redhead tried to pry off his large hand off her neck, but his grip was just too tight. Rugal tilted his head in amusement, enjoying the look of struggle on the young girl's face.

"Brave... yet foolish. Although, did you really think you stood a chance against me, Pyrrha?" He shook his head, chuckling darkly as he clenched his hand tightly around her throat. "You're a thousand years too young for that."

However, much to his confusion, Pyrrha wasn't panicking. In fact, she was smirking. Noticing too late that she was using her Semblance, Rugal looked behind him and saw all of his statues speeding towards him, covered in a black outline.

"Oh sonuva-"

He was completely cut off as the golden decorated bashed him at all sides, squishing him as he grunted in pain, his grip on Pyrrha loosening. She quickly retrieved her weapons, recovering her breath. Rugal roared and blasted off his statues, looking absolutely pissed.

The red-haired Hoplite continued to manipulate the marvelous decorations, forcing the blond to destroy each one that came in his way. Aside from her damning anger, Pyrrha was absolutely terrified, watching as the megalomaniac shattered all of his statues with a single blow. Seeing that there was nothing left to throw, she turned her attention to the desk behind her and threw it at the unaware man.

Rugal stretched out his palm and blew it up without looking. Out of the smoke, he seemed surprised as a suit of armor came right at him. The blond smacked it aside, only to be impaled in the shoulders by a sword out of nowhere.

While the former philanthropist was still distracted, Pyrrha charged forward and began attacking him with focused rage. The furious redhead wildly swung her weapons with wild abandon, cutting up the man she once idolized. She aimed for his vital spots, making the attacks much more painful.

Rugal could do only gape in horror as he kept on taking hits from the vengeful girl, unable to even defend himself. He tried to plead for her to stop, but everything he said was ignored. Pyrrha roared and slashed down, slicing up and revealing the flesh inside his torso. Gripping her javelin tightly, she jabbed it inside of Rugal's head with a loud roar.

The adrenaline started to wear off. But before it could comply fade, she gripped both sides of Akuou and twisted it around, snapping Rugal's neck for good measure. Pyrrha fell to her knees as the adrenaline rush had passed, panting heavily as she stared at her former sponsor's corpse with horrified realization.

She had just killed. She...had just taken a life. A life of a human...

The Huntress-in-training lowered down her head, tears streaming down her face as she tightly clutched the necklace that Jaune had gifted to her, looking absolutely torn and terrified.

"I... I did that. I...avenged Jaune, but...at what cost?"

"Oh please. Did you think it would be THAT easy?!"

Pyrrha's eyes shrunken in pure horror as Rugal's body had suddenly risen up from the ground, the blood flowing back into him, dark matter pulling out the swords that was inside of him. Without even a nanosecond to react, Pyrrha found herself slammed into the wall once again. Although this time, she was held up by her hands.

The blond's head snapped back into place, although the fact that he was moving with Akuou still embedded inside of him was nightmare-inducing. Rugal gripped the javelin and pulled it out slowly, the hole on his face closing up, revealing a mocking sneer.

"Like I said, you're a thousand years too young to even pose a challenge for me. But I'll admit, the fact that polarity of yours include the iron in blood surprised me. Now, it doesn't matter."

Rugal clutched his hands tightly and broke Pyrrha's wrist. The champion screamed loudly as she heard her bones break.

"Your Aura is useless. It cannot help you in this situation, my dear."

He raised an eyebrow, mildly infuriated and a bit surprised that the pained look Pyrrha had was now replaced with that of resignation to her fate.

"Go ahead... I deserve a clean death."

At this, Rugal laughed. He couldn't contain it and used his unoccupied hand to clutch his stomach, trying not to hurt himself from too much laughter.

"Clean death? Oh no. You won't be dying. Remember the statues you made me destroy? I never did tell you where I got them, didn't I? Those statues were of the corpses of all the people that I've had the pleasure beating in combat. They struggled very much, but that was what made it fun. In the end, they stood no chance against Lord Orochi's power and I've dumped molten metal on all of them! But since you made break them all, you'll be the first in my new collection!"

Pyrrha could only shout as the bones of her wrist were now fully shattered. Rugal jabbed her on the stomach, before headbutting her and striking her with his knee. She gritted her teeth, her Aura having been long gone when he broke her wrist, feeling the full strength of the blows.

Rugal tossed her overhead, crashing her into his glass display. The redhead couldn't even push herself up, since her hands were rendered useless. She could only watch as Rugal strode up to her slowly, a maniacal grin present on his lips.

"PYRRHA!"

Said redhead's eyes widened in fear and worry as Kyrie burst into the room. Rugal swiveled around, and his smile turned even darker. Sensing his intent, Pyrrha immediately told her sister to get away.

"Kyrie, run! Forget about me and just save yourself!"

However, that warning came a little bit too late. Rugal had appeared in front of the younger redhead, leaving behind a trail of after images. The blond grabbed Kyrie by the dress and lifted her up, making her shriek in terror.

"No! Let her go!" begged Pyrrha. "I'm the one you want. Leave my sister out of this."

Rugal instead smirked, and tore open Kyrie's dress, revealing her bra-covered breasts. Horrified at being stripped, Kyrie tried to slap him, but Rugal had caught the hand, and like he did to her sister, crushed it. Kyrie fell to her knees, sobbing as not even her Aura could protect her.

Pyrrha sobbed, begging for the man to stop as the crushing of bones echoed throughout the room. Rugal, determined in humiliating the girl further, decided to just tear apart her dress until nothing was left, except for her lingerie.

The man grunted and manhandled her. He harshly kneed her back, making her scream as she could feel her spine almost be ripped into two, but not quite exactly. One more elbow to the gut and Rugal threw Kyrie back to her sister.

Pyrrha did her best to crawl up to her little sister, who had started crying in fear and humiliation. Kyrie wrapped her arms around her sisters for comfort, all the while unconsciously healing Pyrrha with her Semblance.

The despicable bastard strode up to them slowly, a menacingly hazy aura beginning to permeate from his body. He laughed with vicious glee as he watched their terrified expressions.

* * *

"Begone!" exclaimed Noir, carving the demons with an Upper Slash.

Swiftly sheathing back her weapon, the blonde dashed back, allowing K' to have his share of fun. The white-haired cracked his knuckles and started dishing out fast-paced attacks against the horde, his limbs shrouded in his flames. Gathering fire on his gloved hand, he roared and zipped through Kobras, launching them into the sky.

Both Eve and Noir jumped after their airborne enemies, dealing them with a relentless combo of sword strikes. The Disciple of Vergil slammed Wilt back into Blush and charged it up. Just as more demons arrived, the redheaded Faunus drew out her blade and released a vortex of slashes that sliced them to bits.

Sheathing back their weapons, Noir went up to her little sister. "Are we close yet, Patty?"

Wordlessly, the young child nodded, pointing at the door that led to the storage room. The First Daughter felt a pit form in her stomach, worried at what she may see. Nodding at her subordinate, K' kicked down the door off its hinges, allowing them to go inside.

They cautiously entered the room and were immediately greeted with the sight of Jaune crucified on the wall, the Yamato firmly planted in where his heart was. His eyes were still open, but the life inside of it had been extinguished as his own blood coated his face and his clothes.

"Holy shit…" was K' reaction, taking off his shades to make sure it wasn't a trick. He only met Jaune about once or twice, and they never got off the right foot, but, seeing him dead wasn't right. He looked right at his comrade, worried for her well-being.

Noir slowly shook her head, not willing to believe what's in front of her. She ran up to her little brother as the bindings on his limbs simply vanished, allowing him to limply fall into Noir's arms. She gently settled him down and carefully pulled out the dark-forged katana out of his body.

Eve walked up beside her, looking down on Jaune's prone body. Kneeling down, she took his left arm and was about to check for a pulse, until she felt how cold he was. "Dust, he's really-"

However, Noir still refused to accept it and continued to deny that she had lost another of her sibling. She cradled Jaune's head onto her lap as she kept on telling him to wake up.

"Jaune? It's to wake up… Pyrrha's coming over later, remember? You promised her you'd take her out to the park. You wouldn't want to upset her…right? So come on, wake up…"

Nothing still. Noir grew desperate, trying to 'threaten' him to get up, or else. She broke down in tears, hugging her little brother's corpse, screaming for him to stand up. Patty ran up to her older sister, telling her to stop and accept that Jaune was gone. The two of them hugged each other for comfort. K' bowed his head in respect while Eve looked away, unwilling to show her tears.

Yamato glinted, attracting their attention. **"Forgive me... I, I tried my best to keep him alive. But, there was nothing I could do. His heart was destroyed!"**

Wiping away her tears, Patty approached her dead brother's body and planned to say some last words to her. She placed her hand over his chest and prepared to speak, when a bright light began to shine from her fingertips. The young girl looked curious, while the others were apprehensive.

Noir gasped, recognizing what it was.

* * *

Silence reigned over the two siblings. At the very least, Jaune had now calmed down. Since he apparently now had a lot of time, Jaune used it to ask his sister a question. "Why didn't you do it?"

Nera looked at her brother in confusion. "Didn't do what?" she asked.

"I know Noir and the others got their Aura unlocked when they were twelve... But you, you died when you were fifteen, and never showed that you had it. So, why? Why didn't you get your Aura unlocked?!" He broke away from the hug as his anger came back, joined in by his sorrow. "You could've survived! You could've lived!"

Nera remained silent. She paced back and forth, trying to find the best words to answer him. Taking in a deep breath, she sighed and looked at Jaune right in the eye.

"I knew, little brother. I knew how jealous you were of Noir, Sol, Luna and Saph. You were jealous of them, because they had powers, and you didn't. I... I wanted to help you out. At first, I didn't know how, then, I kept on dreaming of something. It was like, a vision of the future, or something. I watched it all in perfect clarity. It was accurate down to the last detail. And you wanna know it was? It was that day, when we went to the fair. I knew it was going to happen."

Jaune was taken aback. As quick as his shock came, it was soon replaced with his rage. "But... Why?! Why didn't you say anything?! Why didn't you tell mom, me, or anyone!? We could've stopped it, we could've prevented it! So why did you keep it-"

"I did it for you, you idiot! You were jealous of our sisters, and I wanted to help you out by waking up some of your dormant powers. Extreme physical and emotional stress seemed like the best choice, and that vision validated it..."

Again, Jaune was left speechless. He didn't know how to react. How to respond. He felt himself choke up, trying so hard not to cry again. The Lone Son grabbed his sister and pulled her in for a tight hug.

"Why? There could've been another way! Do you know how many weeks I couldn't sleep?! Every time I tried, all I could see was your dead body, reminding me that you were never gonna grow up, that you were never gonna be able to see all your favorite shows end, or that you'll never see our dad and it's all because of me..."

"It was my fate, little bro. My destiny. I had to fulfill it, and I'd say it was worth it. Look at you, you've grown up to become a powerful person in your own right, and scored not one, but two hot girls!"

He pushed her away, looking frustrated. "That doesn't make it any better! I just died. What good is me being powerful if I couldn't even beat Rugal?! What good was your sacrifice if I can't use my power?!"

Nera was rendered silent. She couldn't think of a rebuttal because her brother was right. In the end, it wasn't enough. Jaune died, and her sacrifice was entirely in vain... Or was it?

Much to the both of their shock, Jaune slowly began to fade and flicker, like a phantom. He looked at his body as it continued to stay translucent. Yet, Nera didn't seem horrified. In fact, she smiled.

"Guess your time isn't up yet." she remarked. "Looks you'll be going home."

Jaune was surprised. He turned to his sister and stretched out his arm, staring at her with a pleading look. "Then come back with me... Mom and the others, they've missed you, sis."

Nera turned away, not wanting to show her deep sorrow to him. "I can't... I'm not allowed to leave. My soul is already bound to the afterlife, but you, you're being given this second chance. Go on... I'll always be there with you in spirit."

Shedding a few tears, Jaune pulled her in for one last hug and said a proper farewell. "Goodbye, Nera... I'll miss you through and through."

She smiled into the hug and reciprocated the act, tears pricking her eyes as well. "I'll miss you too, Jaune... Stay safe, okay?"

With that, he flickered out of Purgatory and back into Remnant.

Jaune's eyes shot open as he found himself back in his body. He saw Noir and Patty, looking extremely happy, accompanied with tears of joy. That was all he could see as his vision was filled with nothing but blue. In it, he could see something that terrified him. The need to act was nigh. Yamato flew into his sword and a powerful ripple flung them all back.

When they recovered, Jaune had crashed through the ceiling, presumably heading towards the epicenter of the mess. Noir could only smile, silently wishing her little brother luck.

* * *

Ren wordlessly drove his fist into the serpent-like demon and tossed it towards its compatriots, distracting them. He charged at them with a furious cry and performed a revolving whirlwind heel stomp, slicing them in two.

Looking ahead, he could see Treants destroying numerous buildings that led to debris crushing many people to death. He remained still, as a grenade came sailing through and blew up in their faces that made them stumble. Nora leaped at them with a furious roar and whacked them with her oversized hammer, which she wielded with ease, smashing in their faces.

At point blank, her weapon, Magnhild, turned into a grenade launcher and she fired them straight at the Treants, blowing them up. She used the explosion the fling herself right besides Ren's position. The both of them watched in shock as the tree creatures began to regrow their missing features, standing back up.

"They don't know when to quit." snarked Ren.

"Then let's give them a timeout!" using her own grenades, Nora launched herself into the air to continue her fight with the Treants.

Ren was about to follow, when more Kobras appeared and surrounded him. The Son of Dante cracked his neck and closed his eyes, curling his fingers as a gust of wind blew around him, his coattails billowing against it. The demons hissed and lunged at the teen. The wind grew stronger and swept them all back.

Ren pried off a pipe in the middle of a wreckage, wielding it like a makeshift sword. Tightly gripping it, he coated the metal object with his wind and brandished it with a look of contempt.

"Let's dance!"

The cambion charged forward and fiercely swung around the makeshift sword, slicing through the demons like they were nothing but butter. He circled his swings around himself, leaving a trail of air blades to strike multiple targets. Ren bisected one of the Kobra's with an upward swing, launching himself into the air. He roared and did an overhead swing, crashing himself down and cutting up two more.

The Son of Dante grunted and flipped back to dodge, but also used the opportunity to kick away an approaching demon. Quickly landing, he immediately did a lunge attack, knocking back a few of them. This also shattered the pipe.

Grunting in surprise, Ren tried to throw off an Kobra that managed to latch onto him. Soon, the others started to dog pile on him to give their comrades a chance to strike. However.

**"Raging Storm!"**

A geyser of wind materialized and shredded down every demon that was on him. Ren brushed off the guts that on his clothes and re-equipped Gilgamesh once more.

Nora danced around the lumbering arms of the Treants trying to her but because of her short stature, and surprising agility and nimbleness, she could easily avoid them. The orangenette slammed down her hammer and caused a slight tremor that was enough to stun her opponent. She smashed off its leg and made a hole in its stomach.

With a wide grin, she filled the thing with explosives, as it closed up. Counting down her fingers, Nora shielding her eyes as the Treant blew up into splinters, catching a few of its fellow servants on fire.

Nora moved in while they were distracted doing what she does best - breaking legs. Skidding to a halt, the orangenette spun around and struck a car that was chucked at her right back the Treant that threw it. The pseudo half-demon often wished she could do something else, pretty jealous of how stylish her adoptive mother can be when fighting.

However, due to her distracted state, she was struck down by numerous vines, causing her to fall down. A Treant caught her in its snare, before tightening its tendrils around her, crushing her in its grip

An unfortunate thing about Nora - she had an abnormal amount of super strength and speed, but she's incredibly fragile. A glass cannon, if you will. The servant of Orochi roared and tossed her into the air, for his fellow Treant to clobber her through a building and right towards Ren.

The Son of Dante stared with wide eyes as Nora groaned and writhed in pain. She still hadn't gotten her Aura unlocked, and her healing, quite frankly, sucked. Ren growled as he felt something bubbling inside of him.

Rage.

He turned around and faced the Treants, his eyes burning red with a look of contempt. Growling animastically, Ren charged recklessly right towards them. The servants of Orochi fired off seed bombs right at the running half-blood, but he was too quick for them to hit. He ran on the wall and kicked himself, zooming in like a torpedo at one of them.

Ren sent out a blade of wind with his leg, cutting up a portion of the Treant's chest, letting him go inside of it. The demon groaned, before its life violently ended as a large tornado emerged from its body The others were sucked immediately sucked in, along with every other Kobra that was close by. Soon, the clear attack was muddled with blood and dirt.

The tornado then stopped, with Ren dropping down as the viscera scattered. He clutched his wrist, trying to control and restrain himself from using any more of his demonic powers. Succeeding, he fell to his knees and panted. Glancing at Nora's direction, he was relief flooded his expression as the signs of her recovery became apparent.

"I've lost a cousin, and I won't lose anyone else! I won't succumb... I never will..." he muttered cryptically.

Turning his attention back to Nora, he quickly went up to her side and helped her sit up, a worried expression coming over him. "Are you alright?"

"Mmm... Yeah, I'll be fine." The orangenette flashed her boyfriend a smile of reassurance, slightly easing his fears. "Don't worry about me, Renny."

He was about to recommend that they get to somewhere else, when a familiar presence made itself known. Ren and Nora were feeling an array of emotions, ranging from shock, surprise and of course, hesitant happiness.

"I-is that...?" trailed off Nora, unwilling to believe what she had sensed.

"It has to be... There's no other explanation." exclaimed Ren with slight glee.

There's no doubting it. He's-!

* * *

"I think it's about time we ended this."

Rugal raised his hand, coating it with dark energy. The Nikos sisters closed their eyes, silently crying as they awaited their death. It crackled into a deadly sphere, making him laugh. He clenched his fist and clocked it back to strike the sisters.

_**SHCLICK**_

Rugal grunted in surprise and in pain as his arm was sliced clean off, forcing him to take a few steps back. He regained his bearing and faced the one who dared to interfere.

There stood a blue, humanoid creature that wore something akin to a trench coat, but made out of scales. It had several white imprints detailed on the coat with its coattails separated into four. Whoever they were, they had silvery-white hair that seemed to resemble a tusk of sorts. Attached to the creature's sleeve was a sheathe of some kind. A dark blue hazy aura emanated from him, giving the image of power.

But what really caught the their attention were three things: it's arm and two of the weapons on its person - they were the Devil Bringer, Red Queen and the Yamato. All three belonging to-

**Play - Holding Out for a Hero (EPIC METAL COVER BY LITTLE V)**

"Jaune!" cried out the two sisters in complete joy and relief. Their love interest wasn't dead. He was actually alive!

Jaune faced the two of them to show how much he had transformed. Most of his face was left mostly untouched, but his eyes became a dark shade of white with no pupils, his teeth had become fangs, and there were lines running down his face. What's more, like his coat, most of his skin had become scaled.

**"Pyrrha! Get yourself and Kyrie out of here!" **He shouted, his voice completely distorted and warped. When she didn't move, he had to force her. **"NOW! Save yourselves, I'll come back to you both, I promise!"**

Once those words were spoken only did Pyrrha feel any confidence. She gently wrapped her sister's arms around her shoulder and carried her out of the room. Rugal growled and tried to move in to try and stop them, but Jaune barred his path and pushed him back.

**"Where are you going, Rugal?" **he growled out.** "You owe me another round!"**

The Son of Vergil nearly buckled under the intense murderous presence that suddenly appeared, but kept himself firm. Rugal let out a dark rumble, his earlier pain swept away easily as he looked at Jaune with a menacing stare, his eyes becoming nothing but red, his coat billowing against this sudden gust of wind.

"What makes you think you're even worth my time? You died so easily at my hands, it didn't even take any effort!"

At his proclamation, the gust blasted Jaune in face, but he didn't flinch, and kept his gaze steady as a deadly aura began to emanate from the last Hakkeshu, a maniacal grin on his lips.

"You know what? Why not? I can play one more game before I wipe the rest of you out of existence!"

A pillar of Orochi Energy mixed with Evil Intent exploded around the megalomaniac. Rugal's skin becoming a darkened-pale complexion, his golden hair becoming pure white, and his body becoming more bigger and powerful, creating rips across his suit. Another ripple of energy surged out, his hand regenerating as the aura continued to surround the man, making him look even more threatening.

**"My power will be burnt into your eyes. Now, come forth with everything that you have!"**

At surprising speeds, Rugal dashed forward and grabbed Jaune by the neck, slamming him through the wall. The two of them crashed down onto a skyway, which conveniently overlooked their surroundings, wrecked and burnt by the inferno caused by the chaos.

The Mad Genocider momentarily released his grip on him to erect a barrier around them, so their little game wouldn't be interrupted. With that done, he grinned and lifted him up and started mauling him with a brutal barrage of punches, and kicks, all coated in sharp energy as he cackled madly. Pacing himself, Rugal ended it off with a Genocide Cutter, smashing him into a wall.

Jaune groaned, trying to push himself up as the servant of Orochi channeled gravitational powers, charging up a ball of electricity. The Son of Vergil stumbled, completely disoriented by the earlier attack, leaving him vulnerable. Rugal merely laughed and fired out the Gravity Smash at the cambion. Much to his shock, Jaune quickly recomposed himself and drew out Yamato for an Upper Slash, sending the attack back at him.

Grunting, he thrust his arm and summoned out his Dark Barrier, deflecting it but also made it more powerful. Jaune materialized his Aegis Shield and shoved it aside. Drawing both Red Queen and Yamato, he charged forward and started swinging.

Each of Jaune's attacks were varied. Strong, but slow. Swift and precise. Even then, Rugal easily weaved through them with grace and class. Spinning around, he blocked both blades with his hand, surprising Jaune. The Mad Genocider quickly used the opportunity and coated his free arm in a sharp aura to deliver a rising slash.

**"Psycho Sword!"**

The Son of Vergil was sent back, a gash appearing on his chest. Growling, he channeled his demonic energy into both of his swords and released it into an X-strike.

**"Scumbag!**" he roared out.

The attack struck true, drawing blood. Rugal was unable to react further as Jaune had managed to shorten the distance between them and clocked him straight in the cheek, now equipped with Beowulf. Growling, the two began trading blows, though it was clear who had more power. Exchanging one more blow, the both of them knocked back each other, pushing them at the far end of the skyway.

The two glared at each other, their hate apparent. Rugal fired off a volley of Gravity Smashes and Kaiser Waves at Jaune, spamming them out at a rather swift pace.

**"Ice Breaker!" **

Calling out his arm switch, Jaune froze the projectiles coming at him, before shattering them all to shards, which rocketed back to the Head of the Hakkeshu. Sneering, he laughed at him mockingly and phased through the attacks at super speed, leaving a trail of after-images as he stopped behind Jaune, grinning madly.

**"Suffer!"**

Piercing through his skin, the Mad Genocider dragged him across the skyway and smashed him against the wall, a small explosion of Orochi energy erupting from the impact, before turning around and slid towards the other end repeated the attack.

Rugal dashed back, looking at him in sadistic glee as Jaune shakily pushed himself up as his blood dripped down and his wounds healing. Unbeknownst to the two of them, their fight was being picked up by one of the drones from earlier, broadcasting all throughout the entire kingdom.

* * *

Pyrrha and Kyrie met up with the others and saw the footage. Ren took notice of Kyrie's state of attire and draped his coat over her. Giving a curt nod, she turned her attention to the jumbotron. All of them were mostly relieved that Jaune was alive, but was tinged with concern as they watched him fight.

When Jeanne saw it, her first immediate thought was to intervene, but something held her back, and it was Dante. The Red Devil merely shook his head, silently telling her to be confident in Jaune's abilities. Begrudgingly, she backed down and the two watched from atop of a building, nothing but worry filling the mother.

"_Kick his ass, kid." _Dante thought in encouragement.

* * *

**"Reppuken!"**

A wave of wind rode along the ground, sent by Rugal. It was bigger than what Ren could send out, and it was possibly more powerful. The Son of Vergil grunted and guarded with his Aegis Shield. He kept on blocking, the megalomaniac going on a brutal assault.

His defense fell, when Rugal leaped on top of him and began twisting around at high speeds, crushing him into the ground. The Mad Genocider laughed at his pain, even striking a pose as he kicked himself off the cambion.

Shaking it off, Jaune grabbed Red Queen and swung into MAX-Act, before leaping forward for an overhead strike. Rugal anticipated it and deflected the blade, catching Jaune by the arm. He snapped the thing out of place, earning him a hiss and a wince from the spectators.

Gathering Orochi Energy into his hand once again, he lashed at Jaune and pierced his stomach, lifting him as he glanced upon the Lone Son with maniacal grin.

**"This place shall become your grave!"** he declared. Rugal suffused the energy and a pillar of Orochi Energy violently exploded around him, engulfing the teen over and over in the most torturous attack as he laughed at his suffering.

No one could bear to watch as they heard Jaune's screams in complete agony. However, the attack soon ceased, interrupted as a figure materialized below them and bifurcated Rugal's arm, forcing him to drop the cambion, reeling back at the sudden attack.

Jeanne, Dante, Noir and even Lady grew wide-eyed at the sight of a translucent Vergil, hovering over his son protectively. Turning around, he grasped Jaune's arm, spinning him around before releasing his grip, sending the blond right into Rugal.

Jaune drove his foot into the mad man's stomach, quickly following it up with a cartwheel kick to the jaw. The pseudo-Vergil leaped over him and wounded Rugal with its copy of the Yamato, further disorienting him. Jaune rolled over him and channeled Iori's powers, striking him with his ethereal claws.

Soon, the phantom joined in and the two of them started an onslaught of swift yet vicious strikes, leaving multiple lacerations around Rugal's body. The former Combat Philanthropist let loose a roar of rage and generated a shockwave that shoved back the blond, while dispersing the phantom.

This left him open for an attack, one which Rugal took advantage of this and burst forward, grabbing Jaune by the head and injected him with some sort green fire, overloading to the point it blew up. This rocketed Jaune a good feet away from him, as his body slowly turned receded out of his Devil Trigger.

The Devil Hunter clenched his still active Devil Bringer tightly, not knowing what to do. Every attack he threw at Rugal, the man took like a sponge and quickly healed himself up. Not even Yamato seemed to do any lasting damage.

"_What the hell do I do? How can I beat him?!"_

Despite his thoughts, he charged forward, calling out Fenris and materializing Summoned Swords by his side. Grinding his two katanas together, he imbued the both of them with his power and sent out another double shockwave. Rugal merely phased through them, only to be struck by the Yamato, interrupting him.

Jaune swiftly went on the attack and whacked the megalomaniac with Fenris's scabbard twice, then drew him out, slashing at him thrice in quick succession, the last hit freezing up Rugal, frozen Summoned Swords embedding themselves on him to prolong the effect. Switching back to Beowulf, he cocked back his arm, charging up its power as it glowed brightly twice.

"**Dragon Breaker!"**

Just as Rugal freed himself, Jaune unleashed his attack, a powerful double rising uppercut, juggling the the Omega God into the air and sent him even higher with Blistering Swords. Rugal recovered and fired off multiple fireballs at the blond.

Erecting his Aegish Shield, he blocked the projectiles before flipping back, avoiding Rugal as he descended down. Jaune continued blocking or deflecting, the Mad Genocider becoming aggressive in his attacks, while the blond continued to think of a way to actually beat him.

"_What can work? Does he even have a weakness?!"_

He switched to offense and released a row of flame pillars, momentarily paralyzing Rugal. Running at him, he drew out Yamato and swung her right at his throat, a large gush of blood spurting out, but even then, it wasn't enough to end him.

The gash on his neck closed up, and even manipulated his own blood to blind the Son of Vergil.

"**This is it!"**

Rugal rapidly struck the blond with his legs, coated in sharp energy, launching him into the air with three rising roundhouse kicks. Jaune fell down unceremoniously with a thud. Once again, he forced himself up and wiped the blood off his lips.

"_Maybe there's something I already know that I just haven't realized! Think, dammit! Is there something I can use?!"_

Equipping Beowulf once more, Jaune went to a defensive route as he tried to remember anything useful. Then, his eyes shot open, Ren's and Mature's words ringing clearly in his mind. Then, during the fight with Vice and how she seemed to flinch when she made contact with his Devil Bringer…and the first time he met Rugal, with the same thing happening. He didn't want to believe it, with how bizarre and stupid it seem.

"_You're kidding me… They meant it literally?! But, is it even gonna work?"_

Jumping away to create some distance, Jaune dismissed the Devil Arm to look at his literal one, doubt plaguing his mind. In a second, he made up his mind. He had no other option. Tightly clenching his fist to the point it bled, he grabbed Red Queen and Yamato, both of them glowing with power.

"Place your bets… I'm going all in!"

Rugal merely laughed, his gaze nothing but a hateful sneer as he prepared to use Akuma's most deadly attack. The Son of Vergil may have only seen it once, but he was ready for it. The Mad Genocider cackled and glided toward the blond to grab him, but Jaune had Tricked back, just slightly away from his range and unleashed his counter attack.

The Devil Hunter moved at breakneck speed and swung both blades with speed that most people couldn't keep up with, rapidly slashing Rugal's chest. Jaune didn't stop. He didn't slow down. He kept on going, then ended it with a spinning overhead slash, forming a gash large enough for a hand to fit in.

Jaune dropped his weapons and forced his Devil Bringer through, bringing genuine fear to Rugal's face. The megalomaniac tried to pry it off, but kept on hissing every time he made contact. Jaune roared and injected his energy mixed with his blood into Rugal's body.

In a few moments, the cambion kicked the Omega off of him. Almost immediately, he got onto his feet and looked at Jaune with both hate and fear. **"Y-You…! What have you done?!"**

Heavily panting, he gave the mad man a smug grin. "Doesn't feel nice to be injected with someone else's energy, huh?! Gave you a little taste of mine, with a dash of my blood. Hope you don't mind!"

Rugal clutched his arms as his body began to convulse. Pure disbelief struck his face as he stumbled around, cracks running through his body with energy seeping through. **"No…! This can't be! How…could this have happened?! I was supposed to be unbeatable, with the strongest power in this world, only next to Lord Orochi! We were supposed to win…while you were all driven to extinction! And yet, I was beaten by a mere brat?! This is inconceivable. YOU DAMN JERKS...!"**

If he had said anything else, it had been drowned out by his subsequent screams of pure agony, spreading his arms across as the cracks spread across.

"Put a sock in it!" Jaune drew out Blue Rose, spinning it around and lined up his shot. Smirking, he placed his finger over the trigger as multiple Summoned Swords materialized behind him. "Jackpot!"

Firing out the Charged Shot, the infused bullets struck Rugal right in the face, skewered in quick succession by the spectral swords, hastening the process of his death. With one last wordless scream, Rugal's body exploded in a tremendous display of light, the force pushing back Jaune and making him drop his revolver.

The Son of Vergil weakly chuckled, starting to feel a bit disoriented and his vision becoming blurry. He dropped to his knees and noticed his eyes start to droop. His body leaned on his own but instead of falling down, Jaune felt someone swoop in and catch him in their arms. Forcing his eyes open, he saw his mother's relieved and proud look, accompanied by tears. Jaune just smiled and leaned into her embrace.

It was over. They had won. Rugal had been beaten.

Jeanne brought out a Vital Star and let Jaune bite into it, letting the devil fruit heal his wounds. The Lone Son looked at his mom gratefully, feeling energized. Looking forward, he felt a bit fearful as he saw the silhouette of Akuma. The Master of Fists craned his neck, his eyes boring into the cambion's very soul. He grunted and faded into nothingness, leaving behind an orb.

"A Devil Arm?" he thought out loud.

Jaune called the orb towards him and firmly grasped it. Like with the Yasakani Jewel years ago, a flood of memories surged into his mind, along with a portion of the Evil Intent. The Arc Devil immediately released his grip upon the object, falling back as he panted.

Jeanne quickly sprung into action encased it into, well, a glass case, and placed it away for safe keeping. The blonde matriarch walked up to her son, gingerly clasping his shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked in worry.

Jaune gave his mother an assuring nod, just needing to catch his breath. He accepted her outstretched arm and pulled himself up. The Lone Son went to pick up his fallen weapons, securing them onto his person. Ren, Kyrie, Nora and Pyrrha came running in, the latter in the lead.

"Jaune!" all four of them cried out in joy, as Pyrrha jumped into her boyfriend's arms.

The older redhead cried into his chest and tightly wrapped her arms around him, afraid of letting go. The blond smiled and tenderly reciprocated the act with one hand, using the other to run it through her hair affectionately.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere." he assured her.

Pulling back, Jaune wiped away he tears and planted gentle kiss on her forehead. Smiling, Pyrrha broke away and let the others have a go. Nora swooped in her cousin for a bone-crushing hug, while Ren was content enough to just clasp his shoulder, happy enough to know he was still alive.

After a few more minutes of crushing his ribs, Nora let go. She and Ren stepped aside, letting the last person to finally confront Jaune. Kyrie shyly smiled, a rosy tint coating her cheeks, a bit embarrassed at her current state.

"Hey…" he awkwardly started.

"Hey…" she responded just as awkwardly.

Jaune cleared his throat and sighed. This made Kyrie a bit nervous at what he was about to say. She blinked, and felt her blush grow more heated as Jaune gently clasped his hands on her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

"I have my answer." he finally said. The blond smiled at Kyrie, one of his hands cupping her cheek. "I wouldn't mind trying dating the two of you. Kyrie, you and Pyrrha really bring something out in me that I just can't describe. Just the thought of seeing the two of you unhappy brings me down, and I'm sorry for hurting you for so long."

"Nero…" she whispered, tears of joy starting to form in her eyes.

Kyrie closed her eyes and the two of them slowly leaned in for a kiss to seal the deal. Soon, their lips brushed together, and-

**Play - Shall Never Surrender**

Jaune drew out Blue Rose pulled the trigger, shooting a Kobra right on the head. Pulling away in disappointment, they could see that there were still remnants of the demons around, coupled with some Treants, that terrorized the streets. The Son of Vergil clicked his tongue in irritation, holstering back his gun.

"Looks like this mess needs to be cleaned up. Guess that kiss is gonna have to wait. Sorry, but duty calls." he said apologetically, glancing at Kyrie.

The younger Nikos smiled and nodded in understanding. "It's alright… I can wait."

This time, her words weren't laced with bitterness, making the blond smile appreciatively. Nora and Ren joined their cousin while Pyrrha led her sister to somewhere more safe. Then, they took notice that the participants of the tournament earlier appeared, led by Kyo.

"Oi. Don't you worry, we'll help out clear this thrash so you can get to your girl." the Kusanagi heir said, his fist aflame before extinguishing it with a clench of his hand as the others stood at the ready in their battle stances.

Jaune smiled, appreciating the assistance. From atop a building, Dante, accompanied by Cereza, Trish and Lady, called out to his nephew.

"Hey, kid. Your turn to say it!"

Looking at his uncle with an incredulous grin and shook his head, chuckling under his breath. "Didn't even know we were taking turns." Jaune cracked his knuckles as he approached the demons. "This party's getting crazy…" He kicked Red Queen's blade off of his back and caught it by the handle, revving it up with an excited smirk. "Let's rock!"

The entirety of the fighters roared as one, charging right into the horde. Jaune grunted and rushed forward and magnificently spun around twice, his blade coated in flames that scorched them. Ren sent forth a gust of wind, fanning the flames and made them stronger. Sending a nod of gratitude to his cousin, he flipped back and shot a Charged Shot to the horde, sending out some Summoned Swords as well.

Nora jumped high up into the air and squashed two of them into paste. Pulling back, the lightning cambion easily maneuvered her hammer around, easily dismembering or smashing off the heads of the snake-like creatures. A Kobra tried to pounce Nora from behind, but ended up being torn to shreds by blades of wind.

Ren smiled at his girlfriend and dashed over to two of them and elbowed in the gut, following it with a double palm thrust that tore through their body. The Son of Dante released waves of Reppukens, slicing them into bits. He quickly stepped backwards, letting an attack pass through harmlessly before quickly going for a counterattack, knocking them into Jaune's direction.

The Son of Vergil Bustered the demon and stabbed it fast and furiously, a bit akin to a Million Stab, before violently bouncing it into the sky it with a heavy, overhead slash. He jumped after the demon and struck it three times, before doing a Double Down, burning and eviscerating the thing. Jaune rolled back, dodging the snakes that were sent his way.

"**Ice Breaker!"**

He switched to his cold powers and froze the ground beneath the Kobras, making them slip and distracted. The Arc Devil leaped forward and repeatedly slammed the blunt side of his blade onto them, before stabbing it into the ground and ran along it to create a spark that blinded them.

Jaune grinned. His eyes glowed briefly as Nero emerged from out of his body, sporting a similar grin on his lips. Grabbing their respective blades, the two dashed in and swung their blades in complete sync, easily hacking through the demons in their way with grace and style.

From their spot, both Pyrrha and Kyrie watched in awe as the two pretty much mowed down anything in their sight. In the very back of their minds, they were giddy with the prospect of Jaune being able to make a clone of himself.

The two passively watched as the remaining Kobras merged in a desperate attempt to do a bit of damage. Original and copy clapped their hands and beckoned for the demon like it was a dog. This enraged the servant of Orochi and pounced at the duo, only for its head to be slammed into two Aegis Shields.

Switching to the Yasakani Jewel, they both unleashed a pillar of purple flames that froze the demon. Rounding behind it, they called on Beowulf and spin kicked it towards their cousins. Nora sent it back with a powerful, double-handed smash. Nero chuckled and backhanded it, changing its direction once again. Ren stylishly performed a flurry of kicks, and ended it with a powerful Straight. Jaune jumped into the air and moved in, aggressively kicking it, before crashing it down with a forceful heel kick.

The four cocked back their arms with a large grin and simultaneously performed a rising uppercut that launched the demon back into the air. Deciding to finish it, Nero materialized Fenris onto his person. Slipping into an Iaido stance, the Son of Vergil skewered the Kobra in a vortex sphere of coldness, freezing it before it was diced up into fine pieces and shattered as it hit the ground.

Ren and Nora clapped him on the shoulder before dropping down the sky way to help the others clean up, and to give him some privacy. Nero absorbed Fenris back into his arm as the original sighed, watching as the rest of Kobras were now easy pickings, which meant that they had it handled.

Turning around, they ran inside of the building of where Pyrrha and Kyrie hid inside of. Jaune and Nero scaled up the stairs, sensing that they were at the rooftop, probably waiting for him. It didn't take him long to reach his destination, as they saw the two of them watching the sun prepare to set. A thought came to mind, and Nero went in alone.

They noticed his presence, facing him with a smile that made him feel joy. Pyrrha nodded at her sister, stepping back to give them some space. Nero walked up to Kyrie, brushing away some strands of her hair. Hazel met with blue, their lips curled into a joyous smile.

"Sorry for making you wait."

Kyrie could only shake her head. "Don't worry. It's alright."

The white-haired cambion cupped her chin and gently pulled her closer. The younger redhead felt ecstatic, closing her eyes as she leaned forward. Finally, their lips connected. Both of them could feel a jolt shudder through their body as their kiss deepened, Kyrie wrapping her arms around his back.

Everyone clapped and cheered for the newly minted couple. At a higher building, Dante looked down at his nephew with nothing but pride, pretty happy for him.

Pyrrha wiped away a tear, feeling nothing but joy for her sister. She finally got one of her greatest desires. Then, much to her confusion, Pyrrha felt someone take her hand and interlocked it with their's. Glancing to her left, Jaune stood there with a goofy smile.

"As if I was gonna leave you out."

She just smiled in contentment and laid her head on his shoulders, gently squeezing back his hand.

Jeanne beamed at her son, short of nothing but happiness and pride for him. As she was about to turn away, she felt someone embrace her from behind. The translucent Vergil tenderly wrapped his arm around his wife, a soft smile on his face. This brought a tear to the nephilim's eye, bringing her hands over his as the phantom slowly started to fade.

Finally, the sun set, and the night approached. The disaster has been averted, and there was still a tomorrow to look forward to. A happy ending...for now.

* * *

**EDIT: Based on a snap decision, I took this down to re-edit and revise some of the fights. I'm sorry for doing so, please don't hurt me.**

**Hey, y'all. Sorry for taking so long. I wasn't feeling at a 100% during this past weeks. I felt nothing but down, and I couldn't find the strength to write. I'm pretty thankful for all of the beautiful that exists in the Arkos Discord Server for helping me out of my funk. You guys might not see this, but thanks a lot.**

**Enough about me being sulky, time to focus on the chapter. So, this has to be the longest chapter of this story so far, having overtaken, coincidentally the DMC4 arc finale. I'm never doing chapters this long ever again...I hope.**

**Hope y'all enjoyed the fight, and I'm quite sorry that I didn't include a scene of Dante and Cereza fighting together. Maybe in the Chronicles, I'll include one. **

**Next chapter will be relatively short, and it'll set up the transition into the RWBY side of things. As always, if you have any questions, leave them in a review, or a PM. Thank you for taking the time to read my rather mediocre story.**

**Until next time. Keep yourself safe and sanitized.**


	21. Moving Forward

Jaune and Ren placed down the tons of cement, the former wiping away a drop of sweat as soldiers in a construction worker's outfit gathered over it. It's been weeks since Rugal's attempt in obliterating every life on Mistral. Luckily, not all of Mistral was completely broken. Only a few cities.

Luckily, Haven Academy was left mostly undamaged, allowing the students who still desire to become a Huntsman or Huntress fulfill their dream. On the downside, of course, was the number of casualties. More than a thousand of people have died in the event, which the BK had dubbed as the R-Incident. Rugal's children publicly disowned any connection to their father, and pledged millions of Lien in help of rebuilding the kingdom, as well to give relief to those who had suffered.

Surprisingly enough, besides the few Grimm that appeared, not much had even bothered showing up to take advantage of the large negativity. Although, it could be possibly that the demons killed them as well indiscriminately.

Right now, they were still in the midst of restoring the broken cities. The Black Knights expended many of their forces to speed up the process, while others were posted in many points of the Kingdom, high on alert to make sure no more dangers swooped in while the kingdom was weakened.

Of course, the Devil May Cry crew helped out as well. Ren, Nora, Jaune, and surprisingly, Dante, chose to help out on the efforts of rebuilding, while Lady, Trish and Noir assisted the military in their patrols. Although, Dante's Doppelganger style was a large help, so that could explain why.

The blond sat down, wiping away a few more drops of sweat his topless body as he took five, sitting down on a layer of planks. He blinked, feeling something cold touch against his cheek. Jaune looked up, seeing Kyrie hold out a bottle of orange juice towards him. The cambion gratefully accepted it, unscrewing the cap and took a large gulp. She sat down right next to him, glancing at her boyfriend fondly.

"Looks like you need a bite to eat."

From behind, Kyrie procured a bento box and popped up a top, filled with some of Jaune's favorite foods. The blond beamed at this, taking it off of her hands.

"You didn't have to do this, you know." he said, as he grabbed a pair of chopsticks and started eating his second girlfriend's cooking.

Kyrie just beamed at him as a response. The young redhead looked around, watching as everyone decided to take a quick break, being handed lunch by Rosia and Jeanne. She spotted Ren, being fed by Nora, who had been shooting scathing glares at a couple of women who had been flirting at her boyfriend due to him being topless as well.

"It's incredible to think that Mistral's almost already back on its feet in just a few weeks." she thought out loud.

Swallowing some pork, Jaune nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It's such a wonder whenever the people put aside their differences so that they can help each other. And it's pretty nice of the Fortunites to help out."

Kyrie agreed. Former inhabitants of Fortuna Island made up a large majority of the rebuilding effort, seeing it as a way to pay back Mistral for giving them a home when they lost it.

Jaune popped in another piece of pork into his mouth, smiling at the flavors that invaded his taste buds. "Man. This is good."

Kyrie twiddled with her hair, blushing at his compliment of her cooking skills. She worked hard to make it, and was pretty happy that he was enjoying it. However, the mood was a bit soured when Jaune changed topics.

"So... Today's the day that Pyrrha heads for Beacon, huh?"

It came as a shock to all of them when Pyrrha announced that she would be enrolling in Beacon over Haven. Her reasons being that she wanted to expand her horizons, and see other parts of the world.

"Yes..." sadly replied Kyrie. "She's already boarded one of the Bullhead en route to Vale. Starting tomorrow, she'll be studying abroad for four years."

Jaune saw the slight frown across her face. Placing aside his bento box, he inched closer to Kyrie and gently grasped her hand with his. "Hey. Look on the bright side, she can come and visit us during their breaks and the holidays. Plus, the Vytal Festival is months away, so we can come visit to cheer her on. No need to be sad. And besides, we can make up for lost time."

"I guess you're right." she said, her sour mood being brushed away as she intertwined their hands together, causing a blush to form on their cheeks. No one seemed to notice, making them internally sigh in relief-

"Filth!"

The two froze up, hearing Nora's voice coming from right behind them. The exuberant ginger was giving them a look of 'horror', her eyes falling directly onto their hands. Soon, it changed into that of 'disappointment', shaking her head like a parent scolding their child.

"I can't believe you two, acting so indecent in public! Think of the kids that could've seen this, it would've scarred them for life! And you're not even using any sort of protection? Geez, how low can you guys go?"

The couple were now blushing in embarrassment, making Nora chuckle as a cheeky smirk made its way on her lips. Jaune glared at his cousin for ruining the moment, whom only slipped her tongue out in response.

"Any other reason you're disturbing us, Nora?"

She flashed him a thumbs up. "Yep! Dante's calling us back at the office. He says that there's a job waiting for you, me, and Renny. That, and he has something else to show us."

Jaune nodded in understanding. He glanced at Kyrie and leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek, only for his lips to meet the palm of her hand.

"Clean yourself up first, mister. You can kiss me later." Kyrie said, sporting a cheeky grin.

The blond chuckled under his breath and just gave her a hand one last squeeze before following Nora back to the Devil May Cry office.

* * *

The three teenagers walked into the building, fresh and fully clothed. They saw Dante reading a weapon's magazine, his feet propped on his desk. Looking up from his reading, he flipped it shut and straightened himself, smiling at them.

"Good. You're here."

"So, what's happening, Uncle D?"

The Red Devil cracked a smirk and nudged his head to the left, wherein three packages lay on his couch, marked with their respective insignia - two golden arcs for Jaune, a hammer with a lightning bolt in the middle for Nora, and a green lotus flower for Ren. They looked at the devil hunter expectantly for an answer.

"They're from Cutting Edge. If you all remember, I forgot when, I asked you three, and Pyrrha, to describe an outfit you want made. I sent those notes to Cutting Edge's owner, since he owes me for Fortuna. After months, they're done and he finally sent over these high quality clothes all made from the finest materials, completely free of charge."

Nora's eyes sparkled in recognition at the name of the brand, having heard it from Trish and Lady. People clamored to try and get their clothes from there. Like Dante said, everything was made from the most finest of materials, built to last, usable in fights, and has a reasonably expensive price. She quickly snatched hers and ran upstairs to get changed.

Ren and Jaune looked at each other, just amazed. They grabbed their own respective package and went to put them on.

"There's supposed to be one for Pyrrha too, but the guy said he was stuck on some of the details, so he'll just send it whenever he can." voiced out the half-devil.

About a couple of minutes later, all of three walked out at the same time, looking quite sharp.

Jaune wore a purple-ish long coat with a high collar that reached up to his legs, adorned with silver buttons, with only the first two being buttoned. The insignia of the Order of the Sword was sewn into both shoulders, with his family one on the back. Under it was a bright blue shirt, buttoned up all the way except for the neck area. And to top it off, a black scarf that was just long as his coat, and for asymmetry, a regular leather glove on his right and two rings on his left.

His lower clothing was quite simple but effective - a pair of comfortable jeans, with a silver belt buckle, a double-strap holster on his left leg, two leather straps around his lower waist, and a pair of combat boots.

Ren's new outfit consisted of a forest green, diesel jacket. slightly zipped up. Streamlines of red ran down the sleeves and the zippers on the sleeves, while the edge was colored a hot pink. He wore a black shirt underneath. Like Jaune, he had a scarf wrapped around his neck, although it was much shorter, and it's mainly color scheme was black, with yellow patterns. His insignia was emblazoned on the back as well, in the same color as his scarf.

For his pants, he wore grayish white jeans, buckled in by a black belt, and finished it off with combat boots as well.

Nora wore a collared black sleeveless vest, with a blue central front with red accents. Under the vest, she wore a white sleeveless t-shirt with a heart-shaped cutout above her breast line in the center. Over it was an open cropped, short-sleeved navy blue bomber jacket with her emblem visible on the back and pink stripes along the sleeves, alongside pink buckled cuffs. and red lining on the collar accompanied with a pair of white armbands on her arms with finger-less gloves.

She had on a short pink skirt with a single white layer under it. White ankle boots with pink soles on them and low heels with pink laces, the tops are folded over revealing the pink lining.

Dante clapped his hand, smiling at their brand new outfits. "Look at you three, looking so stylish!"

Nora beamed at the compliment. Jaune crossed his arms and smirked. Ren, however had the vocal reaction. "Thanks, Dad." Looking at his cousin with a curious glance, Ren brought up something that intrigued him. "I thought you had an issue with the Order? Why have their symbol on the sleeves?"

Jaune ran a finger through his shoulder, looking at the insignia with a look filled with slight fondness, buried deep by regret. "I do, but, I had a different thing in mind when I wrote it. I wanted to pay respect to someone - a great second mentor...and a good friend."

Nothing else needed to be said. Everyone knew who Jaune was talking about, and how it affected him. Ren silently offered a comforting clasp on the shoulder, earning him a thankful nod from his cousin. With that out of the way, they went back to the matter at hand.

"So, what exactly is the mission, Uncle D?"

After he said this, Morrison entered the office, accompanied by a man, presumably the client. The man had white hair and wore an all black outfit, a green scarf and a pair of spectacles, carrying a cane with him. Jaune's eyes lightly widened, recognizing who the man was.

"You're Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy."

The bespectacled man lightly smiled and nodded, confirming Jaune's assumption. "That I am. A pleasure to meet you all."

Dante gestured to his couch, allowing Ozpin to take a seat, which the man gladly took. The Legendary Devil Hunter looked at him with a curious glance. He straightened himself and leaned in. "So, Mr. Ozpin, why don't you tell us all about this job? You had Morrison get you here in secret, so it has to be something big, right?"

The headmaster firmly nodded. "Quite. You see, an associate of mine told me of this place. You know of him, Mr. Redgrave. He's...a dusty old crow."

The Red Devil chuckled, leaning back. "My old drinking buddy, huh? Haven't heard from him in a long time. So, he directed you here, but why do you need us? I heard you're buddy-buddy with Ironwood."

"Yes, that is correct, but this matter requires someone...young." He faced the three teens and asked them a question. "Tell me - what's your favorite fairy tale?"

The question took them by surprise, not at all expecting it. "Pardon?" Ren asked, for the three of them, not really understanding what the man meant.

"Fairy tales, stories from your childhood. Surely the three of you must remember some of them." Ozpin pressed.

Jaune, Nora and Ren looked at each other, slightly unsure. They sensed no I'll intent coming from him, but the question seemed to have come out of nowhere. In the end, they decided to humor Ozpin.

"The Maiden in the Tower, and Hansel and Gretel!" were what Nora said.

"The Spirit in the Bottle, and the Two Brothers." Ren responded.

"...The Legendary Dark Knight."

Ozpin's lips curled into a smile. "Ah. A good selection. But, tell me, what about the Story of the Seasons?"

Dante quirked an eyebrow, having an idea where Ozpin was going with it. "You mean the tale of how four sisters managed to open up the heart of an old man, who gave them powers in return so they can share to others what they did for him? And said powers being the equivalent of the four seasons - Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter?"

Seeing the incredulous looks from his son, his son's girlfriend and his nephew, Dante raised his hands in a shrug. "Hey, it was mom's favorite."

Ozpin nodded at the man with a grateful expression. "Thank you for the short refresher, Mr. Redgrave. Now, would you believe me if I said that that story was true? That there are four maidens in this world with great power?"

Not just the three, but four pairs narrowed their eyes, looking at the bespectacled man skeptically. Jaune uncrossed his arms and leaned against the staircase.

"How would you know that?"

"Because I have one of them in my custody - the Fall Maiden. However, a matter of complication has happened. She was ambushed, and had half her powers stolen by an agent of the one behind the Grimm."

"You make it sound like someone's controlling the Grimm like a bunch of puppets." spoke out Jaune.

Much to their bewilderment, Ozpin nodded. "There is. A queen of sorts. She commands the Grimm to wreck havoc amongst the kingdoms, spreading despair and sorrow to whatever crosses their paths."

The devil hunters glanced at each other, silently communicating. What Ozpin said could probably true, considering they're well aware of the existence of demons, and how some of their abilities could be magic, it's not at all impossible for the Grimm to actually have a head controlling its hive mind. But the question remained.

"Alright, but what does this have to with us?" asked Jaune.

"She plans to usurp the powers of the four maidens, and use it for her own gain... And unfortunately, one of her agents managed to obtain half of Fall. My associate managed to save her before her powers were fully drained and is currently recovering in Beacon. I fear that her attacker may try to claim the rest of her powers, that's why I want to hire the three of you to infiltrate my school and become students there as an extra measure of protection."

Ren and Nora saw nothing wrong with it and agreed with the details. However, Jaune was conflicted. If he accepted, then it would mean leaving Kyrie behind... It's only been weeks since they've started officially dating. Leaving now would be-

"I... I'm not sure. Look, that's pretty terrible and all, but I don't know. I have my personal reasons for not wanting to come with. I don't want to leave Kyrie so soon."

Dante saw an immediate solution to his problem. "Kid, you know you can just use your Doppelganger, right? One goes with Ren and Nora to Beacon, the other stays to be with Kyrie."

The Son of Vergil opened his mouth to refute, but closed it just as quick. His uncle was right. He could just use Doppelganger. It could act like him, but also like its own person. With a deep sigh, he turned to the headmaster with a pointed look.

"I assume we need to get there by tomorrow?"

Ozpin nodded in confirmation. "That's right. Orientation starts tomorrow." The bespectacled man stood up, nodding at them. "That'll be all. Thank you."

He promptly left, being escorted out by Morrison. Soon after, Jaune headed home to go pack up, bidding farewell to his cousins.

* * *

Letting out another sigh, Jaune placed down his pen. Looking back, he stared at the pack that contained all the essentials that he needed what was gonna basically be a four-year mission. He ran his hand through his hair and just slumped back.

"I wonder... Is this really the right decision to make?" he pondered out loud. Shaking his head, he got off the chair and grabbed the bag. "No sense in moping about it."

Closing his eyes, he concentrated for a brief moment and felt his consciousness be duplicated. Opening them, Nero now stood in front of him. His copy clasped his shoulder, already knowing what to do.

"Don't worry, I'll keep her safe. Just try and have fun out there." he said.

Nero grabbed the note and jumped out of the window, running off to meet with Kyrie. Jaune chuckled in slight amusement and double checked everything before he headed out.

"So, you'll be going to Beacon, huh?"

Craning his head, he saw Eve leaning against the door way, watching him. Jaune grunted in acknowledgement, zipping up the pack. "That's right. I'll be gone for about four years." he said as he slung the pack on his shoulder.

"I see... If it's not too much, can I ask you for a favor?"

"A favor? Well, it depends on what kind."

The redheaded Faunus crossed her arms, looking down as her expression turned to that of a sadness. "A friend of mine, she...she ran away from home to join our cause, and I took her under my wing because I knew her parents. In time, I grew to look at her like a little sister, and she saw me as her big sister. But then, during our latest mission, she just...abandons me. I, I don't know. I didn't do anything to her. She literally picked up and left while we were on a mission!"

Jaune could tell that Eve was distraught, but also confused. Just from the way she spoke, or seemed like they had a good relationship, and that her sudden exit did come out of nowhere really affected her.

"Alright, but what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Blake Belladonna. That's her name. The White Fang hates deserters above all, even if I try to somehow dissuade them, they'll still try to hunt her down someday. There's not much places she can go to for asylum... Except for one place."

The Arc Devil managed to quickly pick up what she was trying to say. "You think she'll go to Beacon and become a Huntress-in-training as a way to avoid her punishment? No one can waltz in one of the most highly regarded Huntsman academy and not face consequences... That's pretty smart, actually."

"Yes, well, if you do see her, I just want to know why... Why she abandoned her duties. Why she abandoned her brothers and sister... And why she abandoned me."

Jaune nodded in understanding, gently squeezing her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll see what I can do."

Eve could only offer him a thankful smile as she stepped out of the way, letting her mentor's son exit his room. As he passed by, the redhead sent him a two-fingered farewell salute. Jaune noticed. He smirked and returned the gesture as he stepped down the stairs.

* * *

"You see him yet?"

Ren looked out of their Bullhead, checking for any signs of Jaune's appearance. Sweeping the area, he found nothing that resembled his cousin. He pulled back and shook his head at Nora.

"Not yet. We still got thirty minutes before we depart. He'll be here."

Thirty minutes passed and he still wasn't there, worrying the two. Just as the aircraft was about to take flight, a blue blur blinked right in front of them, revealing a smirking Jaune. Ren shook his head in amusement.

"Cutting it close, Jaune."

The blond didn't look any bit of sorry as he boarded the Bullhead, letting it finally take off. "Sorry, had to take a quick detour. Wanted to get the latest set of headphones. Took a while because of the line."

Nora and Ren looked at his neck, indeed noticing the brand new headphones that hung around his neck.

"Well, try not to be late next time." scolded the orangenette, a grin crossing her lips.

"Yeah yeah. I'll try not to make it a habit."

Jaune placed down his bag and promptly fell onto the chair. Once he was comfortable, he reached out to his headphones to put them on when Ren walked up to him, holding out a purple, one neck guitar with a lot of electric strings and some skeletal-looking features. He lowered them back down, looking at the item in question with surprise.

"Hold on, is that Nevan?"

Ren nodded. "Yeah. Dad told me he's been meaning to give her to you, since you've a fetish for redheads and all."

"I don't!" denied Jaune. "It's just so happens that the two girls that I'm dating and love very much have both red hair!" he cut in angrily.

"Kidding, kidding! It's just a joke." Ren said apologetically, a grin on his face. "Anyway, yeah, Nevan's yours to use from now on. He figured, instead of pawning her off, he might as well give her to someone who can use her."

Jaune tentatively accepted the Devil Arm, running his fingers across the guitar's neck, feeling a spark of power coming from it. He did a quick strum of the strings, liking the sound it emitted. Smirking, the Grandson of Sparda performed a quick guitar riff, testing out her powers before finishing it off, garnering a small applause from his cousins.

Satisfied, he absorbed the Devil Arm into Devil Bringer, curling around his fingers. "Remind me to get Dante something when we visit during the breaks. By the way, what about you guys? Did Uncle D give you two a Devil Arm too?"

Nora shook her head. "Nothing really fit my style. Think I'm okay with just Magnhild for now."

Ren, meanwhile, grabbed something behind his back and pulled out the Alastor. He lightly glared at the sword before placing it back. "Have to say - it sucks having to get stabbed through the stomach. I hope it doesn't become a recurring thing for me."

"Pretty sure Dante's already got that covered." snarked out the blond as he put on his headphones and hit play, leaning back into his chair and made himself comfortable. Ren and Nora sat on the other side, striking up a conversation as the Bullhead flew across the seas.

"Beacon, huh… Wonder what's waiting for us there."

* * *

**And that's it. Next chapter, we're FINALLY venturing over to the RWBY-side of things. It took me this long, and I want to apologize for that... So! If the descriptions I laid out for their outfits sucked, I'll explain:**

**Jaune's outfit is based on Nero's prototype outfit, which was released as his secondary outfit in Special Edition, except the boots aren't hidden behind the pants. Ren's new look is based around Dante's DMC2 Diesel outfit, but I tried to make it fit his color scheme. AS for Nora, I couldn't think of something good to give her, so I just mixed her Volume 1 and 4 outfits together.**

**By the way, ****are any of you still interested in the Chronicles side story? Let me know, down below, so I can tell.**

**Remember, keep yourself safe and sanitized. Peace. **


	22. Welcome to Beacon

"So… This is Beacon, huh?"

The three Devil Hunters stepped off the Bullhead, walking alongside the path that would lead to the school's entrance. Around them, more Bullheads carrying the students docked near the entrance, letting them disembark and head inside, passing by the trio.

They stopped to take in the entirety of Beacon Academy, unable to contain their awe at the beauty of the building. Nora grinned, bubbling with excitement. "Ooh! Man, I can't wait until we become, like, actual students! I wonder what lessons will they teach us! Or, wait no! What kind of missions they'll give?"

Ren reigned in his girlfriend, halting her thoughts. "Woah, Nora. Calm down. We still haven't passed initiation."

"Yeah. We'll need to pass that first before we can think of what class is gonna be like."

The orangenette shrugged indifferently. "Psh. That'll be a cinch for us. We can pass whatever they throw us at easy!" With a smirk, she grabbed Ren by the arm and started dragging him along. "Now come on! We've got some exploring to do!"

"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up!" He watched in amusement as the two quickly disappeared off in the distance. He could never really understand how his cousin could always keep up with Nora's seemingly boundless energy.

The blond looked back at the building, a smile making its way on his face. _"It feels so surreal. I dreamed of being a Huntsman back when I was, like, five. Now, as a devil hunter, I'm standing in front of Beacon for a job. My past self would've flipped. I wonder…what would've happened had Nera told us - would I have never met Dante? Would I have never met Ren or Nora… Would I have never met Pyrrha or Kyrie"_

The cambion shook the thoughts out of his head and focused on the present. As he prepared to catch up to his friends, the sound of a small explosion caught his attention. Immediately, he reacted on instinct, pushing aside his coat to grab Blue Rose.

"The hell was that?" he muttered out loud.

Looking up, he saw a cloud of smoke kick up from a distance not very far. Not even thinking about, Jaune rushed towards it. He arrived and was surprised at the presence of a mini-crater. Peeking inside, he saw a young girl, around the age of fifteen, with a red and black color scheme, hair included. Her head was spinning, muttering something to herself.

Seeing that there was no danger, he holstered back his revolver and knelt besides the girl. "Hey, you okay?"

"Y-yeah, don't worry. I'm, uh, totally fine and dandy."

Jaune helped her stand up slowly, the girl regaining her bearings as she dusted herself. He took this time to get a better look of her. _"There's no mistaking it. She looks like she's about fifteen. Shouldn't someone her age be in one of those prep academies right now? And her eyes, they're silver, just like mom's."_ Seeing that she had recovered from what just happened, Jaune sent her a friend smile. "Looks like you've had a rough start, huh, Crater Face?"

The young girl rubbed her head, blushing in embarrassment, probably at receiving a nickname. Nonetheless, she stretched out her hand and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Ruby. Thanks for helping me up, and yeah… It was a bit rough."

"I'll say. I'm Jaune, nice to meet you." He took the offered hand and shook it. "So, uh, aren't you a little young to be here?"

Once again, Ruby blushed, staring at the floor as she fiddled with her skirt. "I kinda am, but I guess was good enough to get moved ahead two years? B-but I'm not special or anything!"

Jaune quirked an eyebrow at this, but didn't say anything else, leading to an awkward silence that befell them. In an effort to break it, Ruby drew out a scythe and stabbed it into the pavement.

"So…I got this thing!"

The Son of Vergil looked impressed at her choice of weapon. Dante had told him that scythe's are pretty rare, and that you'd need a great amount of efficiency to use them. For a little girl like her to have one, it must mean she's good.

"A scythe, huh? Does it have a gun mode?"

Ruby beamed and nodded. "Yep! A customizable, high-impact sniper rifle!" Placing away her weapon, she stared at Jaune in curiosity. "So, what do you got?"

Seeing no harm, he kicked Red Queen off his back and caught it, jabbing it through the floor. The young student looked at the sword in complete awe and circled around it. "Wow! What is it?"

"Meet Red Queen - this blade's one of the best battle companion a swordsman could wish for! It's got something called Exceed. Let me show you." Jaune twisted the grip, revving up the sword and causing it to be coated in flames.

The awe in Ruby's eyes grew starry-eyed, looking at the weapon with near reverence. "That…is so cool!"

Jaune agreed, placing his word back onto his back. "Well, with introductions out of the way, let's get to the auditorium."

* * *

The two of them walked inside the room, and found it jam packed with students, all carrying around different sorts of weapons. Jaune couldn't believe at the amount that wanted to try and get into the school. Looking to his side, Ruby was no longer beside him, probably having seen someone familiar, leaving him alone.

Shrugging, he placed on his headphones and went off to find a seat. Unbeknownst to him, had he stayed for a second more, he would have bumped up into Pyrrha.

Spotting an empty spot, Jaune sat down and waited. He fished out his Scroll, getting a message from Ren, asking him where he was. He shot them quick reply before placing the device away as Ozpin cleared his throat in front of the microphone, grabbing everyone's attention.

""I'll...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy - in need of purpose, direction." He said, garnering him whispers among the crowd. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowled_ge_ can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

"_I see. That speech wasn't meant to be uplifting, or rousing. It was meant to be a wake up call, that this school won't be like the rest. I can roll with that."_ he mused to himself.

Ozpin stepped off, and a blonde professor took his place. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready… You are dismissed." she sounded off curtly.

* * *

Jaune laid on his sleeping bag, wearing just a simple white shirt and a comfortable pair of boxer shorts. He decided to give Ren and Nora some alone time together and stayed by himself. Unfortunately, he's yet to cross paths with Pyrrha.

He looked around, seeing a bunch of topless guys, flexing their biceps at a group of girls. The blond rolled his eyes and moved on. To his surprise, he spotted Weiss talking with Ruby. Well, it seemed more like she was arguing with Ruby, and a blonde-wait.

"Oh boy." groaned out Jaune, massaging his temples.

If Ruby was friends with her, he did not look forward to them meeting again. One last look, he saw a girl with black hair, amber eyes and a ribbon on her head that seemed to resemble cat ears. Jaune's eyes narrowed, recognizing who the girl was based on the description that Eve had given him.

"_Looks like her suspicions were correct. Blake Belladonna is hiding in Beacon. Right now, I can't confront her with this many people. Either I do it during the initiation, or some time after."_

Placing back his headphones and playing a soft melody that Kyrie sang too, he laid back his head on his pillow and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Jaune stretched out his joints as he walked up to the locker room. Everyone was required to deposit their weapons in a locker, probably to decrease the risk of someone ended up getting hurt, or a fight breaking out.

Someone at the administration or some sort of higher deity thought they were funny, because the locker number assigned to him was 666. And as he walked towards to his locker, a pissed off blonde came marching right at him, her hair lit aflame and her eyes burning red, Ruby tailing behind.

"YOU!"

"Oh brother…" Clearing his throat, Jaune crossed his arms and stared passively at the woman glaring at him. "Well, nice to see you too, Yang. Guess you're still pissed off."

Ruby looked at the two of them in surprise and confusion. "Wait, you two know each other?"

"Know him? KNOW HIM?! HE-"

"Kicked your butt because you were thrashing a night club, ruined a lot of people's good time, and crushed the owner's balls for some reason." he said, censoring himself due to Ruby's presence. "Honestly, you're lucky the guy didn't press charges on you."

"As if he could!" scoffed Yang. "Junior's a-"

"Former criminal who cut off his shady dealings, did his time in prison and community service, and has been a law-abiding citizen for over two years. So, yeah. He could have." stated Jaune, in a matter of fact tone.

Yang growled, not liking how Jaune spoke to her. Before she could do anything rash, Ruby stopped her.

"Yang, cut it out. Besides, he is kind of right."

The blonde turned to the young girl with a look of betrayal. "You're siding with him over me?"

"I'm not siding with anybody! I'm just saying he's right. And besides, he's not the one who left me behind so I could get blown up."

Jaune quickly took his time to slip away while the two of them were distracted. He honestly felt bad about the encounter, since they seemed close. And besides, it wasn't his fault Yang held such a petty grudge. He refocused on getting to his locker, glancing at each one as he moved. It didn't take long for him to finally spot it. Opening it, he saw Blue Rose lying down on the case the contained Red Queen's disassembled parts, since it was too big to fit the locker.

Securing his gun in its holster, he pulled out the case and opened it up, assembling his blade back in twenty seconds. He gave the grip a good rev, making sure every part was perfectly connected. Once that was done, he secured it on his back. Jaune prepared to leave, when he saw a familiar mop of red hair.

Grinning, he broke off into a sprint and swept her off her feet, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. Pyrrha yelped, before gasping in shock as she felt the familiar heat of the Devil Bringer on her chest. Looking down, she saw Jaune staring back at her with a cheeky grin,

"Jaune!" she cried out in joy.

He let her down, allowing the Hoplite to return his embrace. It's only been a day since they last saw each other, but it already felt like months. Pulling back, she looked at him with slight confusion.

"What are you doing here?"

Before he could respond, the two of the, turned around, hearing a gasp. There stood Weiss, her eyes lightly widened in recognition.

"Y-You're Nero!"

Once again, Jaune didn't get the time to reply as the intercom buzzed to life. **"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-years students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."**

Grunting in annoyance, Jaune turned to his girlfriend with an apologetic smile. "Guess that explanation's gonna have to wait. Party's about to start."

Pyrrha nodded and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. "See you later then. Preferably on the same team."

* * *

All of the students stood on top of silver platforms near the cliffs that overlooked Emerald Forest. In front of them was Ozpin, holding a mug, and the headmistress, Glynda Goodwitch. Seeing that everyone was ready, the headmaster spoke.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Goodwitch then continued. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allows us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given your teammates…today."

Jaune quirked his brows. That soon? He looked out of the corner of his eyes, seeing quite a few of them become nervous, Ruby most of all.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon." explained Ozpin. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with whom you can work well." This caused Ruby to groan. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."

Jaune crossed his arms, a bit surprised at the given requirements. _"That'll be harsh for the people who didn't make a good first impression on each other. But I can understand what Ozpin's going for here. You can't always be with people you work best with. You gotta adapt."_

Based on the expression on Ren's face, he had reached the exact same conclusion. Ozpin continued on, detailing how each pair must head north to an abandoned temple, retrieve a relic, guard it, get back to the cliff and to not hesitate. Seeing that there were no one that asked any questions, they commenced the exams.

Everyone readied themselves on their respective tiles. One by one, each of them were rocket into the air by the springboard, the platforms going down the line. A feral smirk crossed Jaune's lips as his turn came. He let out a whoop of excitement as he was flung into the air.

Grabbing a hold of Red Queen, he revved up the exceed to its maximum capacity and used it to propel himself across the forest, laughing as he did so. He looked at the others, curious as to how they would land.

Ruby fired off a few rounds from her scythe to slow down her impact, right before hooking onto a tree. Weiss materialized Glyphs below her, using it as a platform to jump off of and right into a forest. Yang wasn't even taking it seriously, using her gauntlets to keep on propelling herself forward. Blake used some kind sickle attached to a ribbon, using it grab onto a tree and land down on a branch.

Ren tossed Alastor right at the tree nearest to him, before using his wind abilities to boost himself forward and flip down onto the Devil Arm. Pyrrha meanwhile, dove down to the tree branches, crashing through them to slow her descent, before landing on top of one. She looked up, seeing Nora zip fast her with a trail of explosions right behind her.

Back to Jaune, he embedded Red Queen at a tree he passed by, using it spiral himself down to the ground. Below him, he saw a pack of Beowolves passing by. With still one level of Exceed, he kicked himself off and rocketed down onto one of the Wolf Grimm, violently eviscerating it.

"Let's get airborne!" The Son of Vergil jumped up and rode the air, creating some distance between himself and the Beowolves. Standing up, he stared at bunch with a smirk, hefting his blade on his shoulders. "So, you're my first bunch of victims, huh?"

He was responded with a furious growl, making him laugh and raise his hands in faux surrender.

"Hey, hey, easy little pups. Now, which one wants to play first?"

**Play - Taste the Blood(Vergil Version)**

The Beowolves roared at the cambion, one of them rushing forward. Jaune smirked and launched it and himself skyward, with a revolving slash. He dealt out three quick strikes before grabbing it with a Buster, slamming it back to its pack.

Focusing at it, Jaune dove down diagonally and decimated the Grimm with a single slice. Ducking under a claw, the blond shuffled through the attacks of the packs, evading them with ease. Flipping back, he rode the air once again, revving up Red Queen.

Dropping to his knees, he pulled back his sword, imbuing it with his demonic energy along as flames coated the blade. With a fierce roar, he rushed forward and spun around, decimating the pack with two spinning slashes, burning them down to cinders.

Skidding himself to a stop, he secured Red Queen on his back and dusted his hands. "Guess they're not as durable. But still," More Beowolves burst out of the foliage, surrounding the blond with a snarl. "This may be fun." he finished with a smirk, before charging off to meet with the pack.

* * *

"Watching Mr. Arc, I see." Ozpin did not seem to acknowledge Glynda's statement and focused on the footage of Jaune easily fending off the pack of Beowolves that came right at him.

The blonde professor pushed up her glasses, standing besides the headmaster to watch the on-going fight… No, more like a slaughter. The wolf Grimm couldn't even land a hit on the Son of Vergil, who easily decimated them with his blade, still wreathed in flames.

"I see now why you saw fit to hire him and his friends."

"Indeed." agreed Ozpin. "Power like that will prove beneficial in pushing back against _**her**_… I dearly hope James finds a solution soon, so we don't have to resort to _**that.**_"

Goodwitch nodded solemnly. The bespectacled man switched cameras to check up on the other students as some of them paired up, while others continued to trudge forward, combating against the Grimm that appeared before them. However, on one channel, something quite curious was shown. Or rather, it's silhouette, and dark red eyes and blue flames glowing in the darkness. It immediately noticed that it was being watched and soon, static was the only thing that showed up on Ozpin's Scroll.

The bespectacled man shook off his surprise and quickly changed to different cameras, only to find that they have been destroyed as well.

"Sir, what was that?"

"I do not know, Ms. Goodwitch… We can only hope that it doesn't see our students as a threat of sorts."

* * *

Ruby started running off in a random direction, with only one thing in her mind - find Yang. She called out to the blonde, each of her shouts increasingly becoming more louder. When she received no response Ruby began to despair.

"_Man, oh man, this is bad… What if I can't find her? What if someone finds her first?!" _she thought. _"Ooh! What about Blake? So, mysterious, so calm. Plus, she likes books! Then again, I don't think I can hold a conversation with her for very long. Well, there's also Jaune. Sure, he and Yang are mad at each other, but he seems nice, and he's got a cool sword!"_

The image of Red Queen popped into her mind as she stared at it in awe. Ruby shook it off, trying to focus back onto the matter at hand.

"_Okay... Who else do I know in school? There's Yang, Blake, Jaune, and-"_

The young girl skid to a stop to avoid bumping into the girl in front of her. Said person turned around, making eye contact with her…and said person was Weiss. An awkward silence befell the two of them as they came to realize that they were now partners.

Sighing in irritation, she walked up to Ruby and started dragging her by her hood. "By no means does this make us immediate friends."

Ruby, meanwhile just smiled and cheered, counting it as a victory. Before long, Weiss released her grip on the hood, allowing Ruby to follow along as the two of them trudged through the forest.

"So… Do you know where we're going?"

Weiss was about to open her mouth to answer when two Ursa Minors surrounded them. The two went defensive, drawing out their weapons - Crescent Rose, for Ruby. And Myrtenaster for Weiss. The two slipped into a stance they were comfortable with. They didn't wait for the three to make a move and immediately charged forward.

Ruby wielded her weapon with efficiency, swinging it around like it weighed nothing. She struck at the bear, deflecting it's claw strikes and retaliated with her own. Kicking herself back, Ruby impaled her scythe onto the ground and fired off a couple of rounds towards it.

The Ursa Minor roared and shook it off and charged right at the young girl. Ruby quickly evaded its attempt at a lunge attack, causing it to crash into a tree. While it was distracted, she disappeared in a blur of rose petals and reappeared right in front the of bear Grimm, stabbed it through the chin.

Ruby pulled back Crescent Rose harshly and tore off the poor Ursa's head, leading her to a front flip. This, however, led to the dismembered head being flung into Weiss's direction, hitting her right in the head and distracted her long enough for the Ursa to ram its head in her stomach and claw her back.

"Sorry!" shouted out Ruby. She jumped back, dodging the bear Grimm's attack

Weiss pushed herself up and sent a quick glare at Ruby, before revolving the chambers on Myrtenaster, stopping on the red slot as it imbued Fire Dust into the blade. She swiped down her rapier, releasing a line of fire that struck the Ursa. It refocused back on the Schnee heiress and lumbered towards her angrily.

With her lithe form and being naturally agile, Weiss easily danced around its claw strikes, twirling around like a ballerina. She then switched the chambers once again, setting it to Ice Dust. Summing a Glyph below her, Weiss used it propel herself right towards the Ursa and slashed through its body.

Turning around, it let out a pained whine as it's body slowly began to freeze up. Ruby jumped above Weiss and rapidly hacked the iced up Grimm Bear to chunks. She faced Weiss and gave her an apologetic smile, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Sorry about earlier."

The Schnee Heiress nodded in acknowledgement. "Just try not do it again."

Once again, Ruby cheered silently in victory as she followed the leaving Weiss.

* * *

Ren walked silently and vigilantly, awaiting for anything to happen. So far, he has yet to come across any of the other students, or any Grimm. He quirked an eyebrow, feeling that he was no longer alone. A large serpent appeared behind him, loudly hissing and coiled around the pseudo-cambion.

The King Taijitu, one of the largest Grimm that exists.

Ren reached for Alastor, before shaking his head and instead slipped into a fighting stance. The serpent hissed and lunged at him. The Son of Dante leaped back into a handspring before doing a continuous series of back flips as it tried to attack him.

Landing on a crouch, Ren equipped Gilgamesh onto his person and went into a battle stance. Once more the King Taijitu lunged at the teen, only to be smacked to the side. Ren followed it up with a barrage of devastating kicks, the last one launching it into the air.

The cambion cocked back his arm, charging up the thrusters on the gauntlets as he awaited for the serpent to fall down. Letting loose a roar, he unleashed the rising uppercut, drilling right into the King Taijitu's chin. Ren channeled wind into his palms and crashed the both of them down with a dive kick, driving the blades on the greaves in its head.

He paused for a moment, pondering on how to kill the Snake Grimm. Behind him, the white half of the King Taijitu rose up, staring intently at its prey and launched itself to bite down on him. Ren acted quickly and raised his guard, the snake chomping down on his gauntlets. He harshly yanked it out of its maw, ripping off its fang.

The King Taijitu flailed back in pain and tried to bite him down once again, only to be stabbed in the eye with its own fang. Ren focused Aura into his hands, delivering a palm thrust to its head, causing it to explode in a mush of white.

The black half hissed in anger and prepared to retaliate. Out of nowhere, a blade of energy passed through its neck, making the both of them blink. The Grimm Snake's head slowly slid off as the body began to disintegrate.

Dismissing his Devil Arm, Ren faced to his left, sending out a mock glare. "I had that handled."

Jaune walked into view, his eyes making contact with his cousin's as he sheathed Yamato back into her scabbard as a grin crossed his lips. "You were taking too long. So, guess we're partners, huh?"

"Nora's gonna be mad. She made up a signal for me to pick up so we could partner up."

As he said this, a bizarre, animal-like sound can be heard a few feet away from them. The two walked up to it and found Nora hanging off of a tree. Her grin was dropped, seeing Jaune together with her boyfriend.

"Oh phooey! You got to Renny first."

"Sorry, Nora. We can still probably in the same team though."

At this, the orangenette's eyes lit up. "Ooh! We need to find Pyrrha! Then the four of us could be the greatest team in Beacon!" She dropped down onto Ren's back and dramatically pointed north. "Onwards!"

The two grinned and rushed off to go find their friend.

* * *

Pyrrha frowned in confusion. She's yet to find anyone that didn't have any partners, Which greatly worried her. Was there an odd number of students this year? Shaking her head, she found herself looking down on a clearing with a circular temple, broken and weathered down due to time and nature. There were pedestals at the center, presumably holding the relics.

The young Hoplite found a pair observing them, a blonde and a black-haired woman until they grabbed what seemed to be a golden knight chess piece. She approached them with a friendly smile and waved.

"Hello."

Yang and Blake looked up, a bit surprised to see Pyrrha all alone.

"You...still haven't found a partner?" asked Blake in curiosity.

The redhead shook her head in confirmation. "None, unfortunately. All I've encountered so far were Grimm."

"Huh." intelligently started Yang. "Would've thought people would clamor to have a four-tune champ as their partner."

"YEEEEE-HAAAAAW!"

From out of the forest, an Ursa came stumbling out, being ridden by Nora until it collapsed and promptly dropped dead. She slid off of it, pouting slightly. "Awww. It's broken already." She looked up and, Yang and Blake stare right at her in shock, while Pyrrha had an amused smile on her face. Nora cheered at seeing her fellow ginger and sent her a wave. "Hi, partner!"

Pyrrha smiled, glad that she got someone she knew as her partner. Nora jumped off of the decomposing Ursa and met up with her friend. Jaune and Ren came out of the forest, calmly walking as they conversed with each other.

"How long do you think until we reach the Ruins and run into Pyrrha?" mused Ren.

The two looked up and blinked in surprise, seeing Nora on Pyrrha's shoulders, waving at them.

"Not that long, I guess."

They ran up to their respective female partner, joining them at the pedestal. Immediately, Nora snatched up the golden rook, singing to herself. Following her lead, Jaune grabbed the black rook. He glanced at Yang, who was doing her absolute best not to make eye contact with him. Rolling his eyes, he forced the blonde to look right at him.

"Would you stop being so immature over something that was your fault? Look, we got off on the wrong foot, and considering the fact that we might be seeing each other for four years, it would be best if you dropped this stupid grudge, and we start over, sound good?"

Yang scoffed and pushed him away, crossing her eyes and turning her back on him. Before she can speak her mind, Blake grabbed her attention pointed above. All of them looked up and saw Ruby falling from the sky, screaming. Seeing the falling girl, Jaune launched himself into the air and caught her in his arms, landing down softly on his knees.

Ruby opened her eyes, having expected to crash on the ground, looked up and found herself staring into a pair of ocean blue orbs.

"'Sup, Crater Face? Just dropping in?"

She blushed at the close proximity and quickly got off, brushing her clothes before finding herself being smothered by a very relieved Yang. The moment was quickly broken, when it was brought to everyone's attention that Weiss…was hanging off the talons of a very large Nevermore, scared out of her mind.

"How could you leave me?!" screamed Weiss, as her hands began to slip off.

"I said jump!" shouted back Ruby.

Blake noticed the predicament Weiss was in, and could only reach one conclusion. "She's gonna fall." she spoke in the most deadpan tone ever.

"She'll be fine." Ruby insisted.

"Aaaaand there she goes." commented Nora, watching as the Schnee heiress fell down.

Grunting, he channeled his father's Style and Tricked Up right next to Weiss, grabbing her in a hold before he Tricked Down safely. The white-haired lady blinked, absolutely glad that she wasn't a splatter on the ground. She looked up, seeing Jaune with an amused expression.

"This is the second time I've saved you, Snow Princess. Trying to make it a habit, or something?"

Blushing furiously, she got out of his hands, trying to recompose herself and look dignified. But the redness of her face betrayed her intentions, earning a chuckle from the surrounding audience. In an effort to distract herself from the embarrassment she felt, she turned to Ruby.

"That…was idiotic, and we will never do that again."

She could only nod in agreement. In hindsight, riding on top of a Nevermore to get a literal bird's eye view of the forest seemed pretty ridiculous. An angry squawk grabbed their attention, seeing the giant Nevermore circling overhead.

"I…think it might be mad." meekly said Ruby.

The avian Grimm let out a high pitched shriek, firing out a barrage of feather-spears at the group. Ren ran ahead and grabbed Alastor, channeling wind into the Devil Arm to blow away the projectiles, causing the spears to stab itself on the pedestals.

"Ruby! Grab the last chess piece. We're getting out of here." sounded off Jaune.

The young girl nodded in agreement and grabbed the black knight. The four pairs broke off into a run, in an attempt to lose the Nevermore. Unfortunately, it was persistent and wanted retribution for being turn into a ride. They hid behind a pillar as the Nevermore barred their path, perching itself on top of the ruined tower, screeching at their direction.

Jaune contemplated whether or not to use more of his demonic powers, before deciding not to. Not yet, he couldn't completely trust the others just yet. He drew out Blue Rose, and looked over towards his long-time friends, giving them a nod, which they returned.

"Everyone, run! We'll make a diversion!"

Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Blake nodded and got out of the spots, heading towards the bridge. The Nevermore saw them and prepared to fire, only to be constantly barraged by Jaune, Pyrrha and Nora. With the provided cover, the four of them quickly crossed the bridge.

The avian Grimm squawked against the continuous fire it was receiving and ascended into the skies before swooping down to break the bridge, preventing the others from crossing. It looked momentarily at Jaune and his friends and merely screeched at them before focusing on the four girls.

"Guess even a Grimm can hold a grudge." commented Ren.

Pyrrha looked at her boyfriend with a questioning look. "Should we intervene?"

For a moment, the blond remained quiet, looking intently as Ruby and the others fought off against the giant bird. Turning to his friends, he gave them a light head shake. "Nah, I think they already got it covered."

* * *

The four of them watched as the girls fired at the Nevermore with the ranged form of their weapons. Unfortunately, this did nothing as the bird flew through the tower, crashing it and the support that kept them standing. Luckily, they managed to climb back up, using the rubble and their weapons.

"None of this is working." commented Weiss, as she and Ruby landed together on a platform.

Ruby hummed in thought. She saw Blake swing over with her weapon in its whip-like form, while Yang kept the Nevermore occupied with a constant barrage of kinetic blasts. Then, an idea struck.

"I got a plan. Let's go!"

Yang finally managed to land a hit, further angering it as it swooped down to swallow her whole. She jumped right onto its beak and emptied her ammo into its mouth."I! Hope! You're! Hun! Gry!" Looking back, she saw they were about to crash into the face of a cliff and quickly got off, leaving the Nevermore disoriented.

Weiss zoomed pass Yang, quickly jumping up to freeze its tail, preventing the bird from flying away. She launched herself away from its range with a Glyph, while Blake tossed her weapon towards Yang, using the whip to create an improvised slingshot around the pillars.

Ruby jumped in, using Crescent Rose to push back the ribbon to its maximum tension. Weiss materialized a Glyph, readjusting its position as she used it to hold her partner's position. The heiress grunted, a bit impressed at Ruby's plan.

"Think you can make the shot?" asked Ruby.

Weiss only gave her a smirk, which was quickly returned as the young girl cocked her scythe while the Glyph glowed red. The Schnee swung down her rapier and released her hold on Ruby, launching her straight at the Nevermore, who had just managed to free itself.

Ruby fired off a few rounds, increasing her speed and caught the avian Grimm by the neck and trapped onto the face of the cliff. Weiss acted and summoned out a trail of Glyphs, allowing her partner to scale up to the ledge as she harshly dragged up the Nevermore, keeping on firing out a few more shots to boost herself. Once they were at the apex, it was quickly caught at the jagged rock on the cliff, but Ruby pushed on and pulled back her scythe, slicing off its head as she left behind a trail of petals.

Ruby landed down the severed head as the body of the Nevermore fell down right into the pit, slowly decomposing. Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were all impressed with the little show that they had witnessed, the former most of all.

"_This is gonna be a fun job."_

The rest of the girls climbed up the cliff, joining Ruby. The hooded girl rushed towards the ledge and screamed at the four childhood friends.

"ARE YOU GUYS GONNA BE OKAY?"

Jaune nodded and shouted back. "Don't worry! We'll find another way across, you guys get back to the auditorium! By the way, that was amazing!"

Ruby flashed them a thumbs up as the four of them headed back, leaving them all alone. Ren walked up to his cousin, giving him a questioning look. "I suppose you don't want to reveal our heritage just yet?"

"Yeah… Let's get to know them first if they're fully trustworthy before we tell them."

The girls and Ren nodded in understanding. Jaune unrolled his sleeve and transformed his arm into the Ice Breaker, using it to create a stable path for them to cross through. Once done, he reverted back into a regular arm, and gestured for the ladies to go first.

Pyrrha and Nora obliged him and carefully started crossing. Jaune went up next with Ren going last.

**CLOP CLOP CLOP**

Jaune's ears perked up, picking something up. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Pyrrha.

Narrowing his eyes, Ren heard the same sound, and unconsciously clenched his first. "Yeah. I hear it too... And it's coming in. Fast."

From out of the forest, an enormous, dark hued horse with a mane and tail of blue flames, it's hooves, mouth and eyes also possessing a blue glow burst out, letting out a loud neigh that screeched against their ears. Jaune's eyes widened, recognizing it from some of Dante's tales.

"Crap, that's a Geryon!"

Much to their surprise, Ren went completely out of character and broke away from them, running towards the Timesteed with a face filled with rage, his arms billowing sharp blades of wind.

"Ren, don't! Geryons can-!"

His words fell on deaf ears as Ren leaped towards the demonic horse and prepared to blast it in the face, only to find himself slowing down. Around the pseudo-cambion, a large sphere enveloped him, having been sent out by the Timesteed, before headbashing Ren off into the pit.

Jaune quickly reacted and caught him with his Devil Bringer arm, pulling him back onto the icy surface, before switching back to Ice Breaker and froze the Geryon solid.

"They can manipulate time." he finished. "What the hell were you thinking, Ren? I never pegged you as the type to recklessly rush in like that. That's more of a Nora thing."

"I...I'm sorry. I was... reminded of something. Way before Nora and I were experimented on. I don't know what took over me. But-"

The Geryon freed itself from its cold prison, screaming out another loud whinny.

"Nora, distraction! Barrage it with bombs!" ordered Jaune.

The Lightning Bomber complied and fired out multiple grenades at the Timesteed. The Geryon rumbled and its eyes flashed. The grenades halted in mid-air before its trajectory reversed, going right back to sender. Ren released out a gust of wind, scattering the grenades and causing them to blow up while still in the air. Much to their shock, the Geryon had disappeared from its place.

"Be wary." advised Pyrrha. "With its ability to manipulate time, it's highly possible it can use such power to position itself anywhere."

Everyone grabbed hold of their weapons, looking around with apprehension as they awaited for the demon to reappear. Alerted by its call, the Geryon rematerialized from Pyrrha's side as it galloped to run her over. She quickly rolled over to the side, as it left blazing hoof prints before disappearing once more.

Jaune's eyes narrowed, spotting a black and blue orb floating in the air. To check something out, he called out Fenris and summoned Ice Swords in Blister formation, firing them consecutively. To his correct assumption, it swerved around the projectiles to avoid getting hit.

"Target the orb! It's the Geryon!" he shouted, taking out Blue Rose and fired it in tandem with Ice Swords.

The others nodded, using what ranged weapons or abilities they had. Pyrrha converted Milo into a rifle and kept on firing shots at it. Ren had finally drawn out Alastor, sending multiple Overdrives. Nora, on the other hand, had electricity coursing through her arms and started throwing out bolts at the Geryon.

Unfortunately, it was far too agile for them to land a hit. Without warning, it turned back into its original form and stopped time. The Timesteed landed down, causing a wave of fire to erupt from it hooves and wash over the four teens. Time resumed, and they were swept off their feet and hurt.

The Geryon suddenly stayed still and merely blasted them with spears made of blue flame. Jaune summoned more Ice Swords by his side, striking down the projectiles. Seeing the demon stay still, Jaune dashed forward and relentlessly slashed it with fervor.

"Attack it while it's still catching its breath!"

Ren was quick to join his cousin, barraging the Timesteed with his father's moves. He and Jaune attacked it close up, while Nora and Pyrrha provided fire support. The Lightning Bomber shot out grenades at a slow pace, while the Hoplite perched herself onto higher ground for a better vantage point and scope.

The Geryon finally caught its breath and stomped down, releasing another wave of fire. Jaune jumped back and matched it with a shower of snow, dousing the flames. Ren jumped over the blond and struck the demon twice, spinning around before performing a Helm Breaker.

Nora launched herself into the air and slammed down Magnhild forcefully onto the horse's head, making it whimper in pain and fall down in a heap.

"Come on, together!"

Nora's whacks were powerful and swift, thanks to her strength. She was behind the Geryon, swinging around her warhammer like it was just a staff. The Lightning Bomber dismissed her weapon, and moved to her raw strength. Each blow felt like a truck ramming over a person.

Pyrrha kept herself perched on the only standing pillar, firing off shots at what weak spots she could discern. In all honesty, she would just be a hindrance. Every so often, she'd throw her shield at its head, keeping it disoriented.

Jaune was unrelenting, he whacked the prone horse with the scabbard twice before repeatedly striking it with blinding speed, permeating the air with its cold further weakening its flame. He moved onto a rising spiral cut, before sheathing back Fenris to perform a Tundra Vortex, an imitation of the Judgement Cut.

"Get back!" he warned.

His friends rolled out of the way as Jaune's hands blurred around the ice-made Devil Arm, sending out three consecutive spheres of ice that skewered the Timesteed. It nickered in pain, the attack injuring it the most out of all they have done.

Jaune landed down, before flipping to the side, giving Ren the stage as he dashed forward with a lunging stab before switching it to a Million Stab, striking it at a fast-pace. The Wind Demon turned around, slashing at him three times before continuing it with two diagonal strikes and ended it with a golf swing slash.

Finally, the Geryon recovered and used its Quicksilver ability to slow down its surroundings. It turned into its orb form and smacked them around before disappearing in a wisp of smoke as it turned time back to normal.

The four winced, feeling the sudden jolt of pain run down their bodies, that not even Ren or Pyrrha's Aura managed to shield. Once again, they were high on alert, trying to discern where it'll reappear.

Jaune ascended into the air. Switching his swords, he took hold of Yamato and began to spam out Judgement Cut after Judgement Cut at random places for seemingly no reason...until one of them hit something that caused a pained whinny to scratch against their ears.

The Geryon fell back down onto where it first appeared, wounds littering it's body as the flames slowly began to die down. It shook it off and started running around in circles. Once more, everyone switched to using their ranged capabilities.

Along with flame spears, red orbs began to home in on the four. None of them were able to react accordingly as they blew up and slowed down tine. Their moves became slow, like a snail's movement. The spears ground against Pyrrha and Ren's skins, but in the case of Jaune and Nora, they were jammed in their stomachs.

The ginger winced in pain, while the blond merely grunted in annoyance. And not a lot annoyed him. Ripping the spear out, he Triggered into his Devil form. Letting out an enraged roar, he dashed forward towards the demonic horse with Fenris and Yamato in hand, performing a barrage of sword strikes, most of them aimed at its legs.

The Timesteed cried out in agony, buckling under the pain and crashing down. Jaune sheathed away his katana and summoned his Buster arm. He grabbed it by the head and bashed it on the ground a couple of times before pummeling it with a series of haymakers then launched the demonic horse into the sky. Drawing out Red Queen, the Son of Vergil sliced through its stomach and swung his blade line a bat, sending it Ren's way.

The Son of Dante struck with Gilgamesh fully charged up, sending it flying. He Tricked up and attacked with fervor and rage, using the speed-enhancing capabilities of the Alastor. He ended it with a Helm Breaker, bringing the both of them crashing down. Flipping back, he allowed his cousin to shoot with a Charged Shot, accompanied with Summoned Swords.

The flames on its mane began to die down, panting heavily as it struggled to stand up with the number of wounds on its body. Jaune and Ren glanced at each other with a nod, and started sprinting. They roared, grabbing their respective swords and slid forward for a powerful Stinger stab. Grunting, the two jammed their blades deep inside of the Geryon.

Its eyes lost its glow, and it's mane finally extinguished. Leaning back, the Timesteed let out one last whinny and fell off the bridge, leaving behind a glowing orb, wreathed in blue flames. Ren and Jaune placed away their weapons, staring at it with curiosity. The orb seemed confused, zipping back and forth between the two of them before it split into two and slammed into the their chests, absorbed into their bodies.

Jaune and Ren felt nothing. They shrugged and prepared to meet up with their respective girlfriends. Suddenly, the structure below them started to crumble down, the floor beneath Nora and Pyrrha giving away. The two cried out in fear as their boyfriends towards them, unconsciously using their newly attained Quicksilver powers. The debris slowly came to a halt, as did the two redheads. Ren used his wind to pull Nora towards him before launching themselves towards the cliff. Jaune Tricked right besides Pyrrha and carried her in a bridal style, jumping from boulder to boulder.

Once they were on safer grounds, time flowed like natural and the remains of the bridge dropped down.

"You guys okay?" asked Jaune.

Nora could only nod, her wound still in the process of being closed up. Pyrrha smiled gratefully at her first friend, feeling a bit shaky, but fine nonetheless. Although, she couldn't help but frown at the healing cut on Jaune's cheek.

"You still don't have your Aura unlocked?"

"Never found the need for it."

Without any sort of prompt, Pyrrha pressed her forehead into his, gently cupping his right cheek, placing her hand on his chest. Ren imitated her, doing the same to Nora. The two of them glowed with the outline of their respective aura - red for Pyrrha, magenta for Ren.

**"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."**

Jaune and Nora looked in awe as their bodies began to glow, their Aura being unlocked. The former shone with a silver-ish white color, while the latter glowed a hot pink. Their respective lovers pulled back, however, Pyrrha fell to her knees, panting.

"Pyrrha! What's wrong?" he immediately asked in concern, kneeling besides her, not noticing that his healing had accelerated nor that he was still glowing.

The redhead smiled and shook her head, reassuring him that she was fine. "I'm alright. Awakening one's Aura uses our own as a catalyst... And you have a lot of it."

Jaune looked at himself, a bit taken aback. He smiled as the light finally died down. The blond helped his girlfriend stand up, only for her to stumble into his arms, the toll of her earlier fights and now the Aura awakening finally having crept up to her.

Seeing no other option, Jaune carried his girlfriend in a bridal carry, making her cry out in surprise, blushing in embarrassment. Not one to be outdone, Ren swept Nora off her feet to do the same. The two smirked at each other before rushing off to head back at the auditorium.

* * *

"Russell Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester."

Jaune and his friends watched as Ozpin inducted another team of students, four men wearing different styles of armor. He couldn't help but frown, not liking their smug attitude. Then, it was their turn. The four of them stepped onto the stage, awaiting their team placement and leader.

"Jaune Arc. Ren Redgrave. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

Said blond blinked in surprise, not expecting to have been appointed leader. Looking at his friends, seeing their reaction. Ren lightly punched his shoulder, a smirk on his face. Nora was grinning wildly, flashing him a pair of thumbs up. And Pyrrha smiled at him, making him feel warm and joyful.

The newly-christened team stepped off, allowing the last group the stage.

"Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. The four of you retrieved the knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

A large amount of people were shocked, none more so than Ruby herself. Nonetheless, the audience applauded just as loud, congratulating the young girl.

Later, the teams were pushing a pair of dollies, heading towards their assigned forms, where they'll be living for the next few years. Fate thought itself funny, when JNPR and RWBY's dorm rooms were right next to each other. Bidding their sister team a good night, Jaune and his team entered their rooms. It was rather spartan, only decorated with about two paintings, empty book shelves, and four beds. Two other inner rooms - a small kitchen + dining room and a bathroom.

Ren immediately headed into the kitchen, while Jaune hopped into the bathroom. Nora took the time to pick her bed and started bouncing on it. Pyrrha just plopped into a random one and sighed into its surprisingly soft mattress.

While everyone was busy, Pyrrha took the time to unpack some of her stuff in order to retrieve a certain something. Once she saw it, a bright smile encompassed her face as she tenderly took hold of it.

"You still have that?"

Pyrrha turned around, seeing Jaune already out of the bathroom, now clothed in his sleeping attire, looking surprised at the object that his girlfriend held. The item in question was the fox plushy that he had gifted to her years ago during their first meeting. Though of course, there were a few stitches and patches, it still looked relatively fine.

"How could I not? It's the first thing you ever gave me..."

Jaune remained silent, but the smile on his face was enough to convey his emotions. He laid down on the bed next to the redhead and settled in. Taking one last glance, he watched as Pyrrha walked into the bathroom to get changed. The blond sighed and closed his eyes, the lull of sleep drawing him in.

* * *

**And here's the first official chapter that delves into, finally, the RWBY side of things. It took me this long, and I'm sorry. Speaking of long, I had planned to post this on Saturday, but I kinda got busy in helping my family renovate the room, so I was a wee distracted.**

**Now, for those of you wondering, Yang and Jaune's confrontation will be posted soon-ish on the Chronicles side story. So, get ready for that. Looking back, imo, it was pretty bad on Yang's part for attacking Junior and his men, just because he didn't have information regarding Raven. Let's not forget the nights of many people she's ruined. I get that he's a thug, but come on.**

**Jaune and Ren getting Quicksilver - it was a thing that popped into my mind that I had wanted to add once I got to the initiation portion. Now, they can't use the full extent of the powers, since it was split between them. They can only fully use Quicksilver when they're together. Jaune's portion allows him to send out spheres, ala Ragtime, and Ren's let him feel the world as if in slow motion while he moves normally, kind of like Raiden's Blade Mode.**

**Will it be ever upgraded? That's a maybe. **

**Until the next chapter. As always, stay safe and sanitized. Peace.**


	23. The First Day

Jaune stifled the yawn that threatened to escape his lips as he sat up from his bed. He stretched out his joints and rubbed his eyes to stave off the still lingering drowsiness.

"Morning~" greeted a sweet and chipper voice.

The scent of cinnamon toast and a cup of hot chocolate with caramel brushed against his nose, fully waking him up. Jaune glancing up and saw Pyrrha holding out a plate and a cup. He smiled gratefully at his girlfriend and plucked off one toast to eat, as well as the drink.

He looked at her, noticing that she was wearing Beacon's standard female school uniform - a red plaid skirt, a brown jacket with a tan vest and white shirt with a red ribbon tied at the collar and black tights underneath, which only served to accentuate her shapely legs.

_"Get your mind out of the gutter, Jaune. You and Pyrrha aren't on that stage yet. You may be boyfriend and girlfriend, you still can't just blatantly show off your soldier."_

He finished off the two pieces of toast and looked around, seeing that their room wasn't as barren as last night. The shelves were no occupied by numerous books and magazines, all neatly aligned. A few paintings and posters were hung on the wall, Nevan included. Their window had curtains, along with a matching carpet.

Jaune sipped his hot chocolate, taking a look at their schedule. He idly noticed that Ren and Nora weren't present. Probably at the cafeteria, eating breakfast still. Until he heard a whistle screech from RWBY's dorm. He paid it no heed and focused on his Scroll.

"Hmm. We got Grimm Studies on 9:00am for a Professor Port - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 10:00am History class for a Doctor Oobleck on the same days. Then after that is a combat class with Professor Goodwitch, again, on the same days. 1:30pm we got an hour break. Plant Science with Professor Peach at 2:30pm Tuesdays and Thursdays. Huh, this is interesting - a Weapon Crafting and Upkeep with a Professor Mulberry at 3:00pm only at every Friday. Then a Stealth and Security class at 9:30am with a Professor Green during Tuesdays and Thursdays."

The blond finally finished his hot drink and set it across the table. "So this is what it feels like to be in a school, huh?"

"Nervous?" impishly teased Pyrrha.

"Last time I felt I was nervous was when I was about to kiss Kyrie. Before that, it was the day I finally asked you out."

The redheaded Hoplite giggled and pecked him on the cheek. Jaune pushed himself off the bed and strolled into the bathroom for a quick rinse. Minutes later, he was out, his hair damp with a towel on his shoulders, wearing the male equivalent of the uniform - simple black suits lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie, along with his glove and scarf.

Jaune dried his hair while Pyrrha read up on some news. They raised their eyebrows in curiosity as the sound of jackhammers seem to come from team RWBY's dorm.

"What are they doing?"

Nora voiced that out as she and Ren walked back into the room, their faces marred with confusion as well at the random construction noises from the other team. Slamming close the door, Nora did a total 180, looking excitedly at Jaune.

"So! What's on our agenda today, Fearless Leader?"

The three of them quirked an eyebrow at the new nickname the orangenette gave to Jaune, and just chalked it up her being Nora.

"Well, right now it's just 8:45. So we got 15 minutes to get to class before Grimm Studies."

The Lightning Bomber sagged in disappointment, whining almost childishly. "Aw man. Can't we just skip it? We're basically experts by now!"

"Our teacher might have some important lectures regarding the Grimm that we don't know off. Who knows, there may be some exploits or weaknesses that we haven't discovered yet that might prove useful." reminded Pyrrha.

Jaune nodded. "Then it's settled. Come on, let's get to class."

Team JNPR exited their room and prepared to head off to class. However, it seemed that RWBY was still busy with whatever they were doing. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt, Jaune knocked on the door. Weiss popped her head out, a raised eyebrow and a small frown.

"Yes...? We're in the middle of something right now."

"Just wanted to let you guys know that class is in 15 minutes. See y'all there." and then he walked off, leaving a stunned Weiss.

"We're gonna be late!" she shouted.

Ruby, Blake and Yang dropped what they were holding as the four of them hurriedly grabbed any school supplies they had and rushed out of their room, forgetting that the thing they were doing in favor of attending class.

* * *

Regret was one of the few emotions that was Jaune currently expressing, along with irritation and disbelief, a sentiment shared by many other. Apparently, Grimm Studies is just Professor Port, a portly man with gray hair and a mustache, stories about his glory days. He discreetly looked around to see what the other were doing.

Ren, having practiced the art of sleeping with your eyes open, was taking a quick nap. Nora was doodling on her paper, occasionally giggling. Pyrrha did her best to pay attention and take notes, but not everything really interested that much on the man's drivel. Ruby was drawing as well, Yang was looking around until their eyes made contact. At least, she didn't turn head in disgust that time. And Blake was reading. He found that Weiss was the only one really listening attentively to Port.

_"Yeah. Maybe I'll catch up on some."_ he thought.

Jaune pulled out the manga he's been reading about a high school student who could see the dead wound up becoming a Spirit Reaper, or something. He felt a hand shake his arm. He looked up and saw Pyrrha point at Weiss, who was now in her combat attire, facing a cage that had something inside. Whatever it was, it was furious and growling.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Professor Port asked if anyone was willing to show their skill as a Huntsman, and Weiss volunteered." she responded.

Jaune placed away the manga, curious to see as to how the Schnee heiress will perform. Meanwhile, her teammates were cheering her on, with Blake even managing to procure a flaglet with their team name on it…from somewhere.

Weiss glowered at her team, mostly at Ruby. Jaune raised an eyebrow. That's not how one should treat their leader and teammates. Port didn't seem to notice this, pulling out a large battle axe to break open the lock.

"Let the match… Begin!"

Out of the cage, a boar-like Grimm revealed itself - a Boarbatusk. Immediately, it charged right at Weiss. She dashed to the side and swung her rapier, although the attack didn't seem to register. The Boarbatusk stood a good distance away from her, looking at his opponent with curiosity and malice.

Weiss rocketed towards the Grimm, going for a stab at its head. However, it knocked the rapier aside with its tusk, using it to intercept and trap the weapon. The white-haired lady still held on to the hilt, struggling to retrieve Myrtenaster.

"Bold new approach… I like it!" commentated Port.

"Come on, Weiss! Show it who's boss!" encouraged Ruby.

Once again, she took the moment to glare at her partner, but that distraction would cost her. The Boarbatusk capitalized on the opportunity and managed to tear her grip away from her rapier, before being knocked back by it tusks as well.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?"

Weiss looked up in time to see the Boarbatusk charge at her once more. She quickly reacted and rolled out of the way to avoid being trampled, causing the boar Grimm to slam into the desk, becoming disoriented and distracted. Weiss took this valuable time and retrieved her weapon.

"Weiss! Go for its underbelly!" advised Ruby. "There's no armor underneath!"

Normally, she'd have ignored her partner and screamed at her, but she didn't want to waste anymore precious time. The Boarbatsuk recovered and jumped into the air, curling up into a ball and started spinning like a top, dashing towards Weiss. As it came closer, she quickly summoned out a Glyph, defending herself.

The Boar Grimm slammed into the Glyph, knocking it back and exposing its leaped onto the her Glyph, which turned black, before boosting herself towards the Boarbatusk and did what Ruby suggested, driving Myrtenaster into its belly, killing it.

"Bravo! Bravo!" applauded Port. "It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!"

Weiss stood at attention, lightly panting as she straightened herself. The bell then rang, signaling the end of class.

"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant. Class dismissed!"

The students began to file out, with Weiss immediately hurrying towards the exit, leaving her teammates. Ruby looked concerned and quickly chased after her partner. Jaune debated whether or not to go after them, before deciding that it was a matter that they needed to resolve on their own.

* * *

The next class was pretty…interesting, to say the least. Oobleck, who kept insisting to be called Doctor, as he did not earn his degree for fun, spoke about many interesting facts about history and many other controversial topics. Although, he did speak much faster than a normal human, or Faunus.

Unfortunately, Combat Classes wouldn't be a thing, not until Wednesday, so the students opted to socialize and mingle with each other… And of course, many people tried to hilariously fail at flirting with Pyrrha, whom she steadily rejected every advance, stating that she already had a boyfriend. Nora, herself, got some admirers, but were shot down at the premise of getting their legs broken.

With the free time they had, Jaune found the opportunity to converse with Blake. He found her chatting with Yang, trying to better connect with each other. The blond approached the two of them cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"Mind if I borrow your partner for a minute, Yang? I have something that I need to ask of her."

The blonde looked at him with no hint of malice, before shrugging. "Go ahead. I was planning on finding Ruby anyway."

With a grateful nod, Jaune motioned for the amber-eyed girl to follow him towards a much more secluded spot, away from everyone. Luckily, the library was barren, apart form the librarian. Blake felt her heart thump against her chest, feeling nervous and anxious as to whatever Jaune wanted to talk about.

"So…is there something wrong?"

The Arc Devil contemplated on how to approach the topic, whether to head straight to the point, or skirt around it. He sighed, running a hand through his hair

"Nothing much. I just want to know something. Does the name Eve Taurus mean anything to you?"

It took her all of her previous training to not gasp out in shock or break off into a sweat. But, she couldn't keep her heart beat down as it started to go faster and faster. "The leader of the White Fang's Vale Branch? Why would she mean anything to-"

She blinked, feeling the cool breeze brush against her ears… The pair of cat ears on her head, that is. Blake turned around and saw Jaune holding her ribbon, and her first instinct was to cover them with her hands. Before drawing out Gambol Shroud in its gun mode.

"How do you know?"

"Well, considering the fact that your ribbon looks like cat ears that occasionally twitch, it wasn't that hard to figure out. That, and she sent me."

By now, fear was coursing through Blake as her fingers began to hover over the trigger. Jaune shook his head and raised his arms in faux surrender.

"I don't mean you any harm, Blake. I should've worded that correctly. Eve didn't actually sent me to find you, she just wants answers."

"Answers? To what?" she asked hesitantly, but she couldn't deny that she was also curious as to what he meant.

"To why you abandoned your duties. Why you abandoned your fellow Faunus. And of course, why you abandoned Eve. She was pretty hurt that her little sister would leave her like that." said Jaune, mindlessly playing with the ribbon.

The cat Faunus still kept her gun trained on him, yet he felt no fear, no traces that he was lying. He wasn't even looking at her. She lowered her gun and slumped onto the wall. Blake breathed in deeply before sighing.

"Back then, in the war, we were promised just that, and yet we were given discrimination and hate. It was only natural that we sought it out, and the White Fang was born to rise up as a voice for our people. We were supposed to be a symbol of hope to our brothers and sisters, advocating peace and equality among the humans. I've…been a member for most of my life. I was at the front of every rally, partaking in any boycott. And I thought we were making a difference…"

She had Jaune's full attention, who looked at her with curiosity. He never really delved into the matter of Human-Faunus relations, being more concerned about the supernatural and their, sometimes, world ending schemes. Nonetheless, he listened with rapt attention.

"Then, about five years ago, our leader stepped down and a new one took his place…One with other ways of thinking. All of our peaceful protests turned into organized attacks. We were setting fires to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that enslave our brothers and sisters. And the worst part, it was working. We were being treated like equals, but not out of respect…but out of fear.

"That's why I left. I decided I didn't want to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life now to become a Huntress. Me, a criminal, hiding in plain sight with just a bow…"

"I see…" Jaune processed what he had been told. "But why leave all of a sudden without telling Eve? Why not voice out that maybe those action aren't the way? And besides, the method works, doesn't it?"

Blake shook her head. "That's not the point! Sure, it is, but in the process of hurting others? That's not what we wanted! We want them to treat us on an even field out of their own volition, not by being intimidated to do so!…And I was scared of what Eve would become if she kept going that path."

Jaune resisted the urge to introduce his palm to his face, and steadied his breaths before answer. "So you, one of the people that kept her morally grounded and sane, decided to leave her? Blake, I'm sorry to say this, but you're a moron. You're one of Eve's emotional attachments. You're one of her pillars that keeps her shackled from going too far. So quite frankly, your second decision for leaving is stupid."

"And how would you know that?" she asked, confused and a bit angry. "In fact, how do you know Eve?"

"Because her mentor was my father... She visits my family on occasion. Every time she visits, you're one of the few things that she speaks about with praise. How she's always so proud of her 'little sister', and that she can count on her to pull her back from the brink."

Blake looked absolutely surprise. Eve…said those things about her She believed in her that much?

Sighing, Jaune started heading for the door, but before he did so, he gave her some parting words. "I don't plan on telling anyone else of what transpired here, Blake. What do you now is up to you, but, at least try to call Eve."

And he finally made his exist, leaving Blake to stir the knowledge that she had gained.

* * *

Jaune stretched out his limbs as he walked up towards his dorm room. He had tried to mingle with the others, but none had really interested him, apart from RWBY. He and Yang managed to at least bury the hatchet, finally, and started over a new leaf. Her puns need some work, though.

Ruby was naively optimistic, but it was rather endearing. He liked that. Didn't hurt to have a little hope. However, her love of weapons… It painfully reminded him of Nera. The two of them would've made great friends had she still lived.

He decided to leave Blake alone for a while before engaging anything with her, or if she decided to come to him. Whichever came first. Weiss…she was an Ice Queen in terms of personality, a bit snobbish and snooty, as expected of being an heiress to a large company like the SDC, but he could tell it was thawing. In time, she'd grow into a nicer person.

The blond was about to twist open the door knob, when he saw Professor Goodwitch approach out of the corner of his eye. He turned around to face her.

"Is there something you need, Professor?"

"The headmaster requests your presence in his office. Mr. Redgrave and Ms. Valkyrie are already on their way."

Jaune's eyes sharpened. He nodded in understanding and followed after the blonde teacher. A few moments later, they met up with Ren and Nora as they closely approached the tower where Ozpin's office was located. However, to the teen's confusion, he was waiting for them by the elevator.

Without saying anything, he ushered them inside and pressed the button. The group was reined in by silence as the elevator lowered deep underground. They soon reached their destination, the doors sliding open to reveal a dimly-lit chamber with the torches casting a pale green light. There were multiple hallways branching out, but the only way to truly go was forward.

The five of them reached the end of the chamber, revealing some sort of pod. Inside was a woman with brown hair and a light brown complexion. She barely covered, with only her privates in clothes. This completely highlighted just how grievous her injures were.

Ren was the first to speak, stepping forward as the three of them looked with curiosity and empathy. "Is that her? The Fall Maiden?"

"Correct." said Ozpin. "Amber Autumn, the most recent recipient of the Maiden powers."

"She's barely alive..." Jaune quietly commented, taking note of the monitor besides the pod which displayed a weak heart rate, and her rather shallow breathing.

Professor Goodwitch solemnly nodded, gazing at the girl with sadness. "It is unfortunate. Atlesian technology can only keep her stable for so long. Luckily, General Ironwood is doing his best to find a solution that can best help her."

"General Ironwood? He's in on this?" questioned Ren. His friends were surprised as well that such a person was in on the whole thing.

"That's right." she confirmed. "Now, do remember to not tell anyone about this. It is imperative that the knowledge of the existence of maidens be kept low. Do you understand?

The three of them nodded firmly leading to Ozpin dismissing them back to their dorm rooms. The two of them watched as their students left, leaving him and Goodwitch all alone in the Vault. The blonde looked at the bespectacled man, curious and concerned.

"Are you really sure that we should be dragging in students on this mess? In our war against _**her?"**_

"They'll be fine." he assured. "Dante, the Son of Sparda, trained them himself. They've fought demons and devils, and were at the center of the incident in Mistral. Something like this is the norm for them."

Goodwitch didn't seem convinced, but she trusted Ozpin's judgement, nonetheless. He had never been wrong before. Why would he be now?

* * *

**Rather short one. I apologize for that. There wasn't much I could add in, besides the last two scenes. Promise, the next chapter will be more lengthier. I'm trying to pump out at least three chapters, since school is looming in the distance for me.**

**Until then, peace out.**


	24. Typical Bully

"Man, I can't believe it's already been two months!" shouted Ruby in surprise.

That it has. Two months had already passed since the first day started. Most of the students had managed to adjust to their new normal and went in full swing. JNPR and RWBY regularly hung out, always sitting together at the same tables whenever possible.

Yang drank her orange juice, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, it's pretty weird. I thought things would be hectic, but no, they're actually pretty calm."

Their quiet morning would then be ruined as a clump of mashed potato was thrown onto Jaune's hair. He didn't even need to turn around to tell who it was, the obnoxious laughter was enough. His assumptions regarding Team CRDL were right, as the four had taken it upon themselves to bully a lot of their fellow students for no damn reasons, other than being asshats, and somehow, he ended up on that list as well.

And this wasn't even the first time they, mostly Cardin, tried to do something to him. Once, while getting some books for himself and his friends from the library, Cardin thought it would be funny to trip him over, but he didn't expect for Jaune to be able to catch himself into a one-handed handstand and catch all of his books successfully.

Then there was the time Professor Goodwitch was explaining the rocket lockers and all of its uses. Cardin thought he'd be able to shove the blond in, but with the quick use of Quicksilver, he turned the tables and sent the bully flying instead of him, with the blonde teacher not even noticing the events.

He had learned to tune out the rest of their attempts, knowing that they won't be able to do anything much with their childish endeavors. The blond wiped off the clumps on his head without so much as a fuss, much to the shock of Yang

"I'm surprised you're not marching over and kicking their asses." she commented.

"Well one, I don't wanna get detention. Two, they're just annoying gnats. There's always combat classes to do that. And three, they're not worth my time."

The sounds of louder laughter grabbed their attention. The two teams turn their heads, seeing CRDL standing around a brunette, rabbit Faunus, with one of them mocking her ears by putting his hands over his head.

Blake silently growled in anger at her fellow sister being harassed by the group as the others slowly began to get mad, sending dark looks to the four. Jaune's however, surged through the roof. But he kept his cool, and could only look with empathy at the Faunus student.

Velvet Scartalina. Second year student, a member of Team CFVY and a very kind soul. Unfortunately, she's rather timid and has confidence issues that led to her unable to stand up for herself...at least, when she's alone.

Their laughter increased in volume, to the point where everyone in the cafeteria was looking at them. But they didn't care, and was more focused on harassing their fellow student. Cardin grinned and yanked on one of Velvet's rabbit ears, bringing her pain.

"Ow! That hurts!" she cried out, wincing at the action. "Please stop..."

Her cries went unheard. Cardin faced his cronies, continuing to laugh. "I told you it was real!"

"Man, what a freak." Russel snidely commented.

This hit a breaking point in Jaune. One of the things he hated most was someone being pushed around by people that are supposed be guardians. He was about to stand to go and help the girl, when he felt a hand stop him.

"Don't." advised Pyrrha. "You said it yourself - they're not worth your time, as much as we want to see you grind them to the ground. Besides, Velvet can handle her own. She's a second year student."

"But, then why won't she defend herself?" brought up Ruby.

Ren was the one to answer. "Because of society's stigma. If she fights back, then the people's worries about the White Fang and Faunus as a whole become founded…which is stupid, because this sort of treatment is why the organization even exists in the first place. If they keep this up, some day, not just Velvet, but other Faunus they harass will go down the dark road and do something they'll regret…"

The brought a damper on the Rosette's mood, looking at the brunette as she managed to scamper away from the four, who had kept on guffawing to themselves. "That's so unfair."

"It's just how the world is, Ruby." spoke up Blake. "And there's nothing we can do to change it."

"It must be hard, to be a Faunus." Yang said, playing with her food as a melancholic expression on her face.

The rest of their breakfast had been spent eating in silence. Jaune, however, continued to brew his rage. He just needed to wait until Professor Goodwitch's class.

* * *

Doctor Oobleck spoke at his usual hyper-speed, zooming around the class he lectured the students. "Yes! Yes, prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution-more popularly known as the Faunus War…" Oobleck zoomed to the front of the class and the map covered in papers behind his desk. "…humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." Pointing at the map of said-area with a stick, before zipping off to the side for a quick sip of coffee.

"Now!" Oobleck resumed swiftly. "While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!"

The good doctor continued to zip around, occasionally taking a shot of coffee and educating his students.

"Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" he prompted.

A small handful of students raised their hands. Velvet seemed to hesitate before joining alongside others. Almost every Faunus had their hands up, making Oobleck shake his head in disgust.

"Dreadful, simply dreadful!" Oobleck admonished this situation, allowing them to lower their hands. "Remember, students. It is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence! I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?"

Weiss raised her hand, with Oobleck nodding for her to speak.

"The battle at Fort Castle." she answered decisively.

"Precisely!" smiled at the answer. "And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

While the question stirred, Cardin made a paper football and flicked it towards Jaune. The blond sensed it coming and sent it back, striking the team leader in the forehead. Oobleck misinterpreted the act as volunteering to answer.

"Mr. Arc! Good to see you participating in this class! Excellent! This is excellent! What is the answer?"

Jaune straightened himself, vividly remembering how Noir would often mock the general, so he knew the answer.

"He was an idiot."

The class laughed at his seemingly stupid answer, but Oobleck was genuinely curious, urging the blond to expand upon it.

"General Lagune seemed to have forgotten that most Faunus have near perfect night vision, and other traits that they possess the give them advantages. He had ordered the ambush at night, while the Faunus were asleep, except he and his forces couldn't see quite well in the dark, so the Faunus had no trouble getting alerted and beating them off and capturing the general."

Oobleck nodded in approval, liking the blond's answer. "Correct, thank you Mr. Arc. Now, Mr. Winchester, would you care to share you thoughts on the subject?"

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." he responded with a sneer, rubbing his reddening forehead.

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" hissed out Pyrrha, as Oobleck can only shake his head at the bigoted answer.

Seeing an opportunity, Blake decided to continue Jaune's answer.

"What's more, General Lagune was inexperienced, leading him to make more mistakes that helped in his eventual capture." Turning to Cardin, she looked at him hatefully and mockingly. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

Cardin stood up, his hands clenched in anger and prepared to shout at the cat Faunus, only to be reprimanded by Oobleck. "Mr. Winchester, please be seated. You can see me after after class for some additional readings."

He zoomed back to the front, leaving Cardin to silently mutter out a string of anger-infused cursed words. "Now, before this lesson ends, tell me - have any of you heard of Sparda?"

JNPR perked up their heads at the mention of the mighty swordsman. The good doctor looked around to see if anyone would raise their hands, and was almost disappointed until both Jaune and Ren raised their hands. Seeing as the former had already recited, he gave the floor for the latter to speak.

"Sparda, otherwise known as the Legendary Dark Knight, was a demon lord hailed as a hero by many. About two millenniums ago, there was said to have been a war between Remnant and the Underworld, home of the demons. During that time, Sparda woke up to the injustice his kind had brought upon both humans and Faunus alike and rebelled against them, defeating the legion of demons, and his former master, Mundus, the Prince of Darkness."

Without any prompt, Jaune spoke up to continue.

"Sparda sealed the gateway that would lead to his former homeworld, deciding to stay on Remnant, forever branding himself as a traitor to his people. It's said that he benevolently reigned over humans and Faunus, as evidenced by the Fortunites in Mistral, who once hailed from Fortuna, one of the many places Sparda served as ruler. Eventually, he vanished, but it is said that even now, he continues to protect everyone against his own kind.

Oobleck was beyond smiling, clapping appreciatively. "Very well said! Now, you may be all wondering why I asked that. And it's simple, one can learn many things from Sparda. Despite his origins, he chose to fight for us, instead of his brethren. He chose to protect and safeguard our world, instead of his own. And what does that say about us? Who continues to fight with each other for years, and many more to come for such selfish reasons? What I'm saying is, the enemy is something far grander than one's own bigoted views. We are Huntsmen, and we protect. We save, and we most definitely do not discriminate."

The bell then rang, signaling the end of class. "That will be all! Freshen up, combat class is next. Dismissed, all of you!"

The spiky-haired professor zipped off, leaving the room and his class to head for Goodwitch's class. Cardin brushed pass Jaune and purposely tried to shove him, only to fail, further angering him and marched away.

* * *

Ren flipped around Yang to evade most of her attacks. He landed on a handstand and kicked back some of the blonde's kinetic blasts right at her. She swerved around them and charged for close-ranged combat. The Son of Dante grunted and parried her first punch, countering with his own, punching her in the jaw then jabbed her in the stomach. He quickly followed it up with a chain of fast-paced kicks, ending it with two roundhouse kicks that sent her rolling.

Yang speedily recovered, pushing herself out of the way as Ren crashed down with a heel kick. Spinning in the air, Yang blasted out a couple of shots at the devil hunter. The white-haired cambion basically break danced to avoid the kinetic blasts sent his way. He launched himself into the air for an arc kick, only for Yang to step back, avoiding it.

She dashed forward and delivered a powerful straight, immediately following it up with a chain of punches. Ren blocked each attack, countering with his own. The two of them seem evenly matched. The cambion spotted an opening and quickly seized it.

He caught another of her punches and twisted her arm, into a hold. Pulling back, he slugged her across the face and rapidly struck her body, ending it with a forceful roundhouse kick that disoriented her. Ren charged up the thrusters and rocketed forward, hitting Yang with a rising uppercut.

"And that's the match." declared Goodwitch.

"Darn it." Yang groaned in annoyance at her loss and looked at the screen, seeing that her opponent was barely in the yellow zone. The blonde professor analyzed the match footage, giving out her criticism to her students.

"Well done, Mr. Redgrave. That was most certainly an impressive performance. Although, you tend to show off a bit too much. I'd advise you tone it down a notch, if possible."

Ren merely nodded, satisfied with the critique. Goodwitch then turned to Yang, who had pushed herself up to a standing position, dusting herself off.

"As for you, Ms. Xiao Long, while your form is excellent, and skills admirable, there were quite many times you made yourself predictable and left open to Mr. Redgrave's discretion. At most, your guard is the only thing your lacking. Try to improve it."

Yang saw nothing wrong, agreeing with her teacher's assessment. With nothing else to say but commend them for their match, she sent back to their seats and focused on her Scroll.

"Now, it seems we have time for one match. Is there anyone who would like to-"

"I'll go." cut in Cardin, an arrogant smirk on his face.

"I see... Now, then, let's find you an opponent-"

"No. I wanna fight Jauney-boy." he rudely interrupted once more.

Goodwitch stared at him with a scrutinizing gaze, before facing towards the devil hunter. "Would that be alright for you, Mr. Arc?"

She was most certainly surprised when Jaune jumped down from his position, landing on the arena, still in his uniform. "It's no problem, Professor. Oh? Is there something wrong?"

"You are still in your uniform, Mr. Arc. We will give you time to change into your combat attire and retrieve your weapons."

Jaune shook his head, staying put. "That's not gonna be necessary. I have everything I need."

Raising an eyebrow in skepticism at his lack of weapons and equipment, Goodwitch said nothing else and stepped back as Cardin strutted down with bravado on his expression, confident that he had the match in the bag.

"What? Don't tell me you're already throwing in the towel, Jaune-boy. Or are you expecting your team to somehow bail you out?"

The Son of Vergil remained silent, choosing to run his fingers through his hair as he stared at the Winchester. He regarded him with contempt, his face bearing no other emotion.

"You've been a pain everyone's ass, Cardin. Think it's about time you've been put in your place."

The bully never lost his cocky expression, hefting his rather large mace, the Executioner. "What? By you? As if! You don't even have any weapons on you! How you gonna do that, Jaune-boy?"

Jaune loosened his stance and simply relaxed, staring at the orangenette with a smile. "By giving you the Royal treatment."

The students broke down into a mutter, wondering what those words meant. Nora snickered loudly while Ren and Pyrrha were content with displaying a grin on their lips, relishing the humiliation that their leader was about to dish out. Weiss, however, furrowed her brows, feeling like she should know what it was.

"What? What does it mean?" asked a curious Ruby.

"You'll just have to wait and see. Trust us, it's gonna be great." Ren replied in a cryptic manner.

Seeing as the two students were ready, Goodwitch started the match. Brandishing his mace, Cardin charged forward with a loud cry. Jaune remained unmoving, watching as the orange-haired student came closer and closer. Smirking, he lowered his posture into a braced position, leaning forward with his right arm and leg, snapping his left hand behind him as a pale blue light sparked around him.

**"Royal Guard!"**

Cardin roared and swung his mace, at the blond. Jaune moved his arm and a flicker of blue energy blocked the attack

"What the-?!"

Shaking off his confusion, he repeated his actions, only for it to happen again. So he did it again, and it was blocked once more. He screamed in complete frustration and tried changing positions, unrelenting in his attacks. Jaune smirked smugly as he continued royal guarding against each of Cardin's attacks, none managing to even hurt him.

The students looked amazed as the blond kept up his defense, none of the Winchester's attacks managing to land even once. Some turned to the screen that their displayed their Aura levels and were astonished that Jaune's wasn't even being depleted.

Growling in anger, Cardin tried one more swing, but Jaune was quicker, striking him on the chest as a blue light coated his arm. This pushed back the bully by a considerable amount, cutting his Aura levels down the yellow zone.

"Come on, show me what you got!" the devil hunter taunted, punching the air and making a come hither motion.

The team leader gritted his teeth and ignited the fire Dust in his weapon and discharged a wave of explosive blasts. Stretching his joints in the air, Jaune then quickly shifted back into the Royal Guard stance and perfectly blocked all of the projectiles that came his way.

Cardin jumped from behind, having charged in during the attack, a triumphant smirk on his lips as he channeled his Aura into the Executioner and brought it down with a powerful swing. It was for naught as it was blocked as well., Jaune not even turning around

Narrowing his eyes, he rolled away and struck the floor with his mace, firing out pillars of explosion. Jaune perfectly guarded against those as well, still not moving from his position. The blond shook his head, turning his back on Cardin.

"…disappointing." he sighed.

Once again, Cardin became infuriated, properly offended by Jaune's judgement. Like an enraged bull, Cardin charged at the blond with wild abandon and started swinging with no form of plan, whatsoever. The Grandson off Sparda kept up his defense, blocking all of the strikes that were aimed for him. He actually had a bit of hope that the Winchester would give him a fight. But this? This is just pathetic.

Jaune blinked, a bit surprised at himself from his thoughts. He shook them off and re-focused back on the fight. He flipped back, feeling the Rage he accumulated flow swim inside him. Grinning at the bully, he mocked him one more. He started rocking out on air guitar, which mysteriously played some music as if they were an actual guitar.

Gripping the Executioner tightly, Cardin ignited the fire Dust inside once more, mixing it up by channeling his Aura into his weapon. The mace glowed brilliantly, making him grin. With an invigorated roar, the team leader ran up to the rocking blond with a purpose. Skidding to a stop, he pulled back and swung the thing as hard as he could.

But even then, it wasn't enough. The devil hunter was faster, and could react swifter. He let loose all of the Rage that had been building up, hitting Cardin on the chest with a full-powered Royal Release. The orangentte was sent hurtling right into the wall from the sheer force of the counter-attack. He groaned in pain and slumped onto the ground, his Aura shimmering.

"And that's the match." called Goodwitch.

Ozpin wasn't lying when he said they could handle themselves. Not once did Jaune get hit. She was even more amazed at the fact that he reduced Cardin's Aura level not just at red, but to nil. He completely depleted his Aura! Almost every student had their jaw on the ground, floored at Jaune's skill. Nora had lost all restraint, cackling out loudly as she cheered at her leader. Ren could only offered an amused grin, and Pyrrha smiling and clapping for his victory.

"I must say, Mr. Arc, I'm impressed. There hasn't been any record that detailed a flawless match on one side. Your defensive maneuver is outstanding, using it to channel your offense is also impressive. Well done."

Jaune could only rub the back of his head embarrassingly at the compliment. "Ah gee, you think? My uncle said that my Royal Guard needs some more work before I can use it perfectly."

"_THAT WASN'T PERFECT?!" _were the simultaneous thoughts of the students, shocked that _that _display wasn't his best.

Goodwitch was also surprised, but didn't show it. "I see. Nonetheless, you did well, as far as I can tell. Like with Mr. Redgrave, you tend to show off a bit too much. Try not to over do it again."

He could only shrug. Showing off was in their blood. The blonde professor then turned to Cardin, who was busy picking himself up.

"Now, as for you, Mr. Winchester. You were overconfident and charged in recklessly. When things didn't go your way, you only led yourself to your downfall instead of trying to think of another way to attack, Mr. Arc. Next time, match your bravado with your skill, and try not to be so arrogant."

The man could only suppress his pissed off groans, and instead sent a glare to Jaune's way. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He was supposed to beat him into the pulp and show the class that he was on top! Cardin clenched his fist and dragged himself back to the stands. He wouldn't forget this humiliation.

Goodwitch snapped her fingers, grabbing the attention of her students. "Remember, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away. It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing. Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale."

A few students murmured in excitement, with some punching the air in anticipation. The bell rang, allowing the students to leave. Jaune was hounded by team RWBY, looking at him in amazement.

"That was so awesome! You were like a character in an action movie, or something!" gushed Ruby, her eyes sparkling.

"Yeah. Those were some pretty sweet moves, Nero. _I'm glad you didn't use those against me. That would've been awful."_ Then, a thought came to mind. "So, your uncle taught you?"

The blond nodded as they strolled down the hallway, heading back to the cafeteria for lunch. "Yep. Taught me almost everything I know on how to fight. Honestly, he's one of strongest people I know. I'd be hard pressed to fight someone like him."

As they walked, they were unaware of Cardin's hateful gaze, following their movements.

"_Just you all wait. I'll show you who's the real team at the top. And it's us, CRDL!"_

He slunk off to who knows where, leaving the two teams as they kept up their conversation.

* * *

A few days later and Professor Peach sent her class off for a quick field trip, with Goodwitch action as chaperone. She disembarked from the Bullhead, numerous of her students walking out as they gazed upon the breathtaking scenery that was Forever Fall. They all formed up into groups based on their teams. Cardin rudely shoved past Jaune, whom didn't even spare him a glance, focused on his conversation with Ren.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you perish while doing so."

Her assistants walked up to the students, giving them each an empty jar to fulfill their tasks.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap, However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates and remain vigilant. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock... Have fun."

She then walked off, allowing the teams to separate and proceed into the forest. Cardin and his team discreetly followed JNPR, intent on getting their revenge.

JNPR had found a nice batch of trees and started gathering their sap. Strangely enough, the sticky substance was edible and sweet enough to be a substitute for syrup, which was motivation enough for Nora to start drinking the jar that Pyrrha had just filled.

"Nora, stop." she simply reprimanded her partner. "We're supposed to collect the sap, not eat them."

"But it's so sweet, come on, Pyr! Professor Goodwitch doesn't have to know~"

Ren rolled his eyes at his girlfriend and booped her nose, which was enough to stop her. She giggled and went ahead to go help her fellow ginger to fill up their jars.

Jaune sneezed violently out of nowhere, grabbing his team's attention. He groaned miserably, feeling his nose clog up and get stuffy after he took a quick sniff of the sap. "Are you kidding me? Out of everything, I'm allergic to this stuff?" he complained, sounding a bit weird because of the reaction.

Ren could only look in sympathy, grabbing his partner's jar. "Don't worry. We'll take care of your share. Why isn't you go and get a quick breath of fresh air?"

"Yeah, I'll do that." he agreed.

Unbeknownst to them, team CRDL was perch on an elevated hilltop just above them that overlooked the other students. They had six jars around them, all filled with sap.

"Russel, did you get the things I asked?" questioned the bully.

The man in question pulled out a decent-sized box with the letter W on it. Oddly, there was a constant noise of buzzing coming from inside.

"That I do. Freshly captured Rapier Wasps."

Cardin grinned. He picked up one of the jars of sap, looking at the unsuspecting team. Jaune was hunched over one of the trees. Ren sat on one of the branches, keeping a look out as Nora and Pyrrha collected sap.

"Now, according to that stupid essay I did for Professor Peach, these nasty things loves sweets. Think it's about time we show them who's actually on top."

"I...think this is going too far, man. Besides, what if we get caught?" asked Dove.

"Don't worry about it, so much." assured Cardin, slinging an arm around his teammate. "No one's gonna catch us. Besides, they think they're so superior and mighty. They need to be taken down a couple of notches."

He handed one of the jars to Dove, giving him a nod. "You throw that at Pyrrha, I'll toss mine at good ol' Jauney-boy."

The two grinned and prepared to throw the jars, when they heard a growl come from right behind them. The all-male team slowly turned their heads and saw an Ursa Major staring at them menacingly. Russel, Sky and Dove found enough confidence to run away in fear, as the former flung the jar at it as a distraction. The sap did nothing as it approached Cardin. The bully was rooted to the ground, unable to even turn away.

The Bear Grimm swung its claws and knocked him on his back, smashing the jar on his breast place and covered him in sap. Cardin's eyes grew wide and he finally managed to find his voice to shriek in terror as it let out a fierce roar.

Below, the other teams heard the loud roar, with JNPR being the closest. Ren dropped down from his position, looking slightly concerned. The three members of CRDL came running, have come from where the roar came from.

"Ursa! There's a giant Ursa, back there with Cardin!" Russel cried out as they passed by them, still in a panic.

Jaune stood up, contemplating whether or not he should sweep in and save Cardin. On one hand, the guy had acted like an absolute to douche. Not just to him, but to pretty much everyone, bullying them because for no real reason other than to possibly superior. However... It didn't mean that it warranted him to die a probably gruesome death.

With a sigh, he grabbed hold of Red Queen and rushed into the fray, his team following suit.

Cardin had finally manged to compose himself and start running away. He didn't have his weapon, having forgotten it on the Bullhead, so his only option was to retreat. The Ursa continued to follow and managed to cut off his path, causing him to fall on his butt. Cardin desperately tried to crawl away as the Grimm approached closer, baring its fanged teeth.

**BANG**

It flinched in pain, feeling its armor be pierced and his flesh be struck. The Ursa turned around to see who had attacked. Cardin's eyes widened in surprise, seeing Jaune hold out Blue Rose with smoke coming out of its barrel.

"Sorry Winnie, but that guy ain't hunny. You're gonna have to make do with the sap around here instead!"

The Creature of Grimm roared and sprinted towards him, acknowledging him as the bigger target. The devil hunter jumped back, shooting the Ursa twice. It skid to a halt, trying to block away the bullets that pierced its skin. Twirling his gun, Jaune holstered it and drew Red Queen. A smirk encompassed his face as he stabbed it on the ground, revving it up.

"Alright then, come on!"

The rest of JNPR arrived, accompanied by team RWBY. The seven of them saw Jaune fighting against the Ursa. The girls prepared to intervene, only for Ren and Pyrrha to hold out their arms, silently telling them not cut in. They looked unsure, but nonetheless, trusted them.

Jaune struck the creature thrice in brutal succession before leaning forward and slamming down the blunt side of his blade on its head disorienting it. He followed it up swung upwards, launching himself and the Ursa into the air with two spins, flames bursting out from the blade. He was quick to take advantage of its exposed lower body, delivering a series of mid-air slashes.

The Son of Vergil stabbed it through the stomach and flung it back down with great strength. As he fell, he cranked up the Exceed and propelled himself downward for an eviscerating strike. However, the Ursa managed to cover and knocked him off the air. It lunged forward and swung around its claws, trying to land a hit.

Unfortunately for it, Jaune was far agile and nimble for it to strike. He easily weaved around its attacks, doing a flip just because he could. Deciding that enough was enough, the blond ended things. Sliding back to avoid another claw strike, he rushed forward and countered with a fast, powerful blow. The Ursa cried out in pain as a gash appeared on its head and was pushed back.

"Huh… Guess you're a lot tougher than the others."

The Bear Grimm roared and fired off the spikes on its body. Jaune swung Red Queen around his body in arcs and 360 degree angles, deflecting the projectiles, incidentally saving Cardin, who remained rooted and watched in awe at the blond's moves.

Striking down the last spike, Jaune smirked in amusement. He channeled his demonic energy into his sword, its blade humming with power. With a roar, he spun around and unleashed a powerful shockwave. Something that went unnoticed by most people was the spectral arm that wielded the Yamato and sent out another one. The powerful attack struck the Ursa and continuously shredded its body until it was in pieces, the remains slowly evaporating.

"Wow…" was the general consensus among team RWBY, amazed at the display.

"Guess he didn't need our help." commented Ren with a smirk. "Come on, let's go."

He and his teammates turned to leave as RWBY stayed for a moment before follow suit. Jaune secured his sword and strolled up to Cardin. The orangenette, still covered in sap, looked at him in surprise as he was offered a hand. The Winchester smiled at him and accepted it, lifting himself back up on his feet.

The blond quickly let go and went to go rejoin his team, but not without leaving some parting words to Cardin. "Hopefully, this serves as a lesson to you. If this happens again, I might not even bother to try and save you. Oh, and Cardin?" His eyes momentarily flashed red, intimidating the student. **"Don't ever try to mess with me, or my friends ever again, capiche?"**

The Winchester nodded fervently, looking pretty scared as he watched Jaune walk away, leaving him to contemplate. Unknown to the two of them, a drone had been watching everything the entire time, recording footage. It sneakily grabbed the box of Rapier Wasps that was left unattended and proceeded to fly away before anyone could take note of its presence.

* * *

**Surprise! Another update so soon in the same week! I'm also surprised at how quickly I managed to write this. If only I could keep that consistent...****As always, remember, if you have a question, leave them in the review down below or shoot me a message directly in the PMs.****Thanks for reading. See y'all next time, stay safe and sanitized. Peace. **


	25. Time of Leisure

Pyrrha kept herself silent, standing tall and firm as she held her weapons closely to her. Her eyes were trained on Jaune, tightly gripping Red Queen with his left hand. The two slowly circled around each other, waiting for an opening to be taken advantage of.

The devil hunter broke off into a sprint, his blade immediately coated with the blaze of Exceed. Pyrrha raised her shield to block his 360 degree sweeping strikes, the last one pushing her back by a considerable amount. Looking up, she saw Jaune leap towards her for an overhead slash.

The redheaded Hoplite jumped out of the way and went in for a retaliatory strike. Jaune leaned back to avoid it, before blocking her xiphos with his own sword. The couple went into a lock, grinding their blades against each other with sparks flying off from the contact as they tried to push back the other.

A smirk crossed on both of their lips as they pulled back at the same time and traded blows. On and on, their strikes kept on canceling each other. The two of them were light on their feet, moving about as both of them tried to gain an upper hand at their respective opponent.

And it would be Pyrrha. Her hand glowed a dim black, signifying the use of her Semblance. With her Polarity, she manipulated Red Queen and threw the blond off balance. She was quick to capitalize on the opportunity and delivered a quick succession of slashes, ending it with an upper strike that caused Jaune to stumble a few steps back.

On instinct, he raised his Devil Bringer and materialized his Aegis Shield, just in time to defend himself against a thrown Milo. The Arc Devil drew out Blue Rose and fired off all rounds at his teammate. The Invincible Girl broke off into a cartwheel, dodging the shot bullets at her.

Landing and spinning into a kneeling position, she flung Akuou right at Jaune's hand, disarming him of his revolver. Pyrrha then pulled her weapons back to her, tripping the blond in the process.

Jaune caught himself, however, flipping himself into the air and pulled Red Queen to him with a quick Snatch. Managing a Max-Act, the Son of Vergil drilled down diagonally, his blade wreathed in flames.

Pyrrha knew better than to try and block it, and chose to roll out of the way instead. She didn't get to react in time as Jaune instantly moved to attack her with a High Roller, dragging her with him. He struck her with three heavy swings, the last one crashing her back down.

With a loud roar, Jaune crashed down and slammed Red Queen onto the Hoplite for a violent Slash. He didn't let up, following up with a Shuffle attack, juggling her into the air. Summoned Swords blinked into existence and poised around Jaune, consecutively launching themselves at Pyrrha one by one.

Luckily for the Tournament Champion, she was able to defend herself and managed to defend or block against the spectral blades as she fell back down. Landing on her feet, Pyrrha glared at the blond and threw her shield at him.

On instinct, Jaune deflected it, striking the thing in the air. His eyes widened as Pyrrha had managed to close the gap between them and buried her boots into face with a dropkick. As he was sent flying, she planted down her foot and turned Milo into its rifle form. She took aim and fired.

Jaune corrected himself mid-air and shot down the oncoming round with his own. Stomping back down, the two stared at each other. The Son of Vergil holstered back Blue Rose and calmly approached Pyrrha, firing off a Summoned Sword every two seconds.

The red-haired kept on batting aside the projectiles, fully aware that Jaune was getting closer. After deflecting another one, she spun around and flung Akuou, and he responded by vanishing in a blur. Pyrrha grew apprehensive, trying to guess where'd he appear. She was unable to react as the cambion had Tricked behind her and...planted a peck on her cheek.

Jaune pulled away with a cheeky smirk. "Looks like I win."

Pyrrha loosened her stance and sighed. She crossed her arms and huffed, a slightly pouty look on her face. "Guess you're going to be picking where we eat at after the movie."

The blond snaked his arm around his girlfriend's waist and pulled her in for a proper kiss. She didn't even hesitate and immediately got into it, cupping his cheek to pressed her lips even further. Before it could get too intense, Jaune wisely broke away.

"Hey, I don't see you complaining once the chili fries and smoothie comes in." he teased her.

The redhead buried her face in his chest, trying to hide her blush. "Not my fault they taste so good." she mumbled.

A soft laugh escaped his lips. The two of them walked out of the training room to go and get changed foe their movie date. On their way to the lockers, they passed by Ren spotting for Nora as she easily bench pressed...over 50 tons.

"You know, if it weren't for the fact that Nora's artificially part-demon, I'd think she was some sort of superhuman." Pyrrha whispered to Jaune, a sentiment he agreed upon.

"Hey, we're gonna head off to Vale and go watch a movie." Jaune said.

"Oh? Which one?" asked Ren.

"Third Impact: War of the Herrschers." Pyrrha answered.

Their eyes widened in surprise, with Nora most of all. "No way! You guys managed to snag tickets?! That's so unfair! Me and Renny have been trying to get some for the past days, and we couldn't, they keep running out!"

Pyrrha chuckled awkwardly , rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Sorry, Nora. My agent only managed to secure two tickets for me and Jaune... But I'm sure you guys can watch by next week!"

"But then we'd have to deal with those idiots who can't understand the concept of spoilers!" complained the Thunder Bomber, getting her a grunt of agreement from Ren.

"Don't worry. We can keep our lips sealed." promised Jaune.

"Mhm. Enjoy your workout!"

The orangenette nodded at her partner, her mood having been a bit soured. She barked at her boyfriend to add more weights as Jaune and Pytrha walked out.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha walked out of the theater, their hands interlocked as they both wiped the stains of tears from their eyes. The latter sniffled and couldn't help but choke out her sentiments regarding the movie.

"That was so beautiful!"

"It's such a tragedy that they'll never get their happy ending together..." lamented Jaune, regarding the fate of the characters in the movie.

The couple walked towards Jaune's choice of food establishment, with no one the wiser due to their current outfits, with hats to hide their hair and glasses in Pyrrha's case, that helped them blend in the crowd. It was also great that they were placed at the very far back of the cinema.

A thoughtful expression grew on Pyrrha's face, her mind racing around the plot of the movie. And it slightly worried her. Jaune seemed to pick up on this and lightly tapped her hand.

"You okay? You look like you're thinking hard over something."

"Just a thought if...that happened to us. We end up fighting, because you refuse to let anyone else carry your burden."

Jaune dismissed the thought, chuckling slightly. "Like that's gonna happen. Dante's got the world-saving thing under his belt. Hunting demons is cool and all, but I prefer being around the people I care about and spending my time with them."

Pyrrha was convinced, scolding herself for such a silly thought. The two strolled into the place, which was a retro diner, complete with the black and white checkered flooring, a jukebox in the corner playing music that added to the atmosphere and pretty much all the seats were covered in shiny, red leather. Honest to God, it looked like they walked in a greeting card.

They sat down on one of the booths by the window that was a bit isolated from the rest, but still had a great view of the interior. A waitress came up and rolled in, wearing a pair of skates, handing them their menu. The couple browsed through the menu, though they alreknew what they want.

"What would you like to order?"

"I'll have the Guido burger, a side of fries, a caramel malt milkshake, and a large strawberry sundae for dessert." Jaune said, handing back the menu.

The waitress nodded at the blond as she jotted down his order. "What about you, honey?" she asked Pyrrha.

The redhead smiled embarrassingly as she muttered her order. "Chili Fries, BBQ burger and a chocolate-strawberry smoothie."

The woman just giggled in amusement, taking back the menus and rolled away to give their orders to the cook. Pyrrha slumped back in relief at not being judged.

"You're kinda overreacting, Pyr. Your order is nothing compared to mine."

"Yes, but I still have to burn off those calories, even with Aura helping in breaking it down. Some of us wants to keep up our form, you know." she pouted, crossing her arms.

Jaune just chuckled at her expression, finding it absolutely adorable. The two engaged in more idle chatter as they waited for their food. Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw team RWBY walking around. Strangely, Blake wasn't present.

"Huh. That's odd. Blake isn't with them." commented Pyrrha.

Before Jaune could contribute to the topic, their food had arrived, and had been forgotten in favor of starting to eat.

* * *

"Mmm. That was good."

Jaune was all smiles, having thoroughly enjoyed his meal, with Pyrrha letting out a short and an unlady-like burp in complete agreement. That specific diner was really one of their go to places to eat. The food was really good. Atmosphere was great. The staff was friendly. Overall, a fantastic place to hang out.

They had the whole day to them, being a weekend, and all. And the day was still young. For now, they just chose to walk around. The couple enjoyed their little stroll, just having a great time being together and spending time with each other.

Jaune pondered to himself. "What to do now?"

"Maybe we should get some gifts for our friends back home. I've been meaning to get my sister something."

A wider smile crawled on his lips at the mention of Kyrie. It still left a sour note for him that he had to take this job and leave her alone. Though, he was sure that Nero was taking good care of. Nonetheless, she deserved a gift.

The couple spotted a nearby store that sold a variety of items - ranging from dolls, to antiques and knick knacks. They browsed through the store, trying to decide what to buy. It took them a while, but they managed to find some things that would fit.

Jaune felt his Scroll vibrate in his pocket. He hummed in wonder as to who could be calling. Pulling it out, he raised a brow to see it was Ruby. He excused himself and accepted the call.

"You need something, Rubes?"

**"Have you guys seen Blake? We've been looking for her. She and Weiss...kind of gotten into an argument and ran away. That was two days ago and we haven't seen her since."**

That drew some curiosity from Jaune. Blake was missing? They hadn't notice. "Sorry. We haven't seen her at all. But, we'll be sure to call you if we see anything."

**"Oh... Thanks!"**

He hung up, just as Pyrrha had walked up to him with their purchases. "Is there something wrong?" she asked with curiosity.

"Blake's been missing for two days, apparently." he answered, pushing the door open for Pyrrha as they exited of the shop, thanking the owner on their way out.

The Hoplite was surprised. She hadn't noticed their friend had gone missing. Though to be fair, she did often spend more time around by herself than with them and her own team, so it was often hard to tell.

"Wait, isn't that her over there?" Pyrrha stopped and pointed at a near-by Cafe.

Jaune looked at where she was pointing. There, indeed, was Blake, and with company on the balcony. Sitting across her was a blond-haired monkey Faunus, his tail being an indicator. The two were sipping on cups of tea, with the blond using his tail instead of his hands.

"Huh. It is Blake... We should go talk to her. Ruby didn't really specify why she ran away, besides having an argument with Weiss. It'd be best if we get her side of the story first."

Pyrrha saw nothing wrong with that. Although, "Let's drop these off at a post office first." she said, mentioning to the bags that had their gifts.

"Right."

"So... Have you told any of your friends this?" asked the blond.

Blake could only look down and shake her head in shame. She and Sun Wukong, the monkey Faunus, had been talking about White Fang, how she used to be a member until a few months ago and how it led her to running away from her team.

"You kinda forget that I already knew." piped in someone.

The two turned around to see Jaune and Pyrrha sitting together at table right next to them. Blake looked at the latter warily, who could only look back with a slightly hurt expression.

"You can trust a person you just met with your secret, but not a friend who you've known for more than a few months?"

Blake looked away in shame once again. Because Pyrrha was right. She literally only knew Sun for two days, and even in then, barely talked to him, compared to her, who was a classmate and member of her sister-team for months. A sigh escaped the Belladonna's lips, apologizing.

"I... I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be sorry to us. It should be to your team. They're pretty worried about you." said Jaune.

The two blonds met eye to eye, with Sun raising a hand in greeting with a friendly smile. "I...guess you kinda already heard this but, hey, I'm Sun."

Sensing nothing bad from him, he opted to say his real name. "I'm Jaune. The beautiful lady beside me is my girlfriend."

Before Sun can give a proper reaction, Jaune continued to speak.

"So, Blake, what's exactly stopping you from coming back to Beacon?"

The cat Faunus tightly gripped her cup, a contemplative expression on her face. "It's just... I still don't believe that the White Fang is behind all of these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust."

"But what if they did?" pointed out Sun. His eyes widened as a thought came to mind. "I mean, the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go the place where they would mostly go to if they were to do it, and not find them there!... Right?"

"Not a bad idea." Jaune supposed. He was curious as well on what possessed Eve to order these robberies, if it was the White Fang doing them. "But that now begs the question, where would that somewhere be?"

Once again, Sun piped in. "Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about off-loading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?" prodded Blake, eyes narrowing.

"Huge." he emphasized with his arms. "Big Schnee Company freighter."

Blake was now interested. Pyrrha moved to call the rest of their friends over, when she stopped her.

"Don't. Please... I, I need to know first if it really is them."

The champion understood and complied with Blake's request. The four of them exited the cafe and moved out to their destination.

* * *

Night had fallen. Jaune, Pyrrha and Blake were perched on a rooftop that overlooked the rooftop. The latter two were laid flat on their stomach as they kept a look out, with Pyrrha using Milo in its rifle form.

Sun dropped down, having brought some food with him. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nothing yet. They've just offloaded the crates from the boat. No one's stealing it yet." replied Blake.

"Cool." he held out some of the apples to the three, offering them. "Here. I stole some earlier."

Jaune resisted the urge to smack himself in the face and instead asked a question. "Sun...where are you from again?'

"...Vacuo." he responded, after taking a bite.

"That explains much." commented Blake off-handedly.

"Look alive. Someone's coming." warned Pyrrha.

The wind blew around them as they heard the sounds of a Bullhead's engine above them. The aircraft flew around them before it descended right at the center of the cargo. The four them watched with baited as a ramp extended onto the floor, allowing White Fang soldiers to walk down.

"Oh no..." said Blake with a downcast expression.

"There's no mistaking it. That's definitely the Fang." Jaune spotted their symbol on one of the Faunus who had their backs turned. _"This doesn't make any sense. Why exactly would Eve do this? It doesn't correlate with her objectives. Maybe it's a section that went rogue?"_

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?"

Blake could only sigh in sadness at what her comrades had become. "No. Deep down, I think I knew. I just didn't want to be right."

Pyrrha gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort as the cat Faunus looked on in despair. Then, an unexpected newcomer entered the scene.

"Hey, what's the hold up?! We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you snilas try to pick up the pace?"

Out of the Bullhead came strolling out an orange-haired man, wearing rather dapper clothing. He held a cane with him, a look of disgust marred his face as he stared at the White Fang soldiers. He had no traits on him, signifying that he was human.

"Roman Torchwick." Jaune said in recognition. "Something's definitely not right. Why work with a human, an infamous criminal, to top it of. Doesn't exactly help put their objectives in a better light."

Blake agreed. She drew out Gambol Shroud from its sheath and dropped down from their location, sneaking off to the center. Sun reached down the ledge, looking alarmed.

"Wait, what are you doing?!"

He quickly went after her, leaving behind Jaune and Pyrrha. The Hoplite looked at her boyfriend with curiosity. "Should we follow after?"

The devil hunter thought about it for a moment. Ultimately, he shook his head. "No. At least, not yet. We'll keep watch for now."

Blake hid behind a stack of containers, peeking around the corner to see Torchwick chewing out a Fang grunt that was holding a coil of rope.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" Torchwick all but shouted in her face. As he went to go somewhere else, Blake appeared behind him and hovered her blade over her throat. "What the- Oh...for f-

He was cut off mid-swear, making him roll hsi eyes at the childish gesture. The White Fang members were alert and aimed their guns and brandished their weapons at Blake. The Belladonna used her free hand to untie her ribbon, revealing her cat ears.

"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?" she demanded lightly glaring at her former comrades.

The soldiers lowered their weapons in what seemed to be hesitation, looking at each other with unsure body movements. Torchwick chuckled in amusement at the almost cliche development.

"Oh, kid. Didn't you get the memo?" he asked in a condescending tone. "You see, the White Fang and I are on joint business venture together!"

This led to Blake pressing Gambol Shroud's blade further into his neck, in an attempt to intimidate. "What are you talking about? Tell me everything about you little operation, or I'll put an end it to it right now."

The dapper criminal chuckled, looking up. "I wouldn't exactly it a little operation."

Blake gaped in horror as two more Bullhead descended down. Torchwick quickly capitalized on the situation and elbowed her in the gut, removing himself from that position before whacking her around with his cane, disorienting her. He smirked and fired off an explosive blast straight at her.

Blake was flung across the docks, fortunately unharmed for the most part. She pushed herself up and quickly rolled out of the way as Torchwick continued his attacks, firing more Dust blasts. With the aid of her Semblance, it was almost a cinch. She got onto the containers and retreated behind them for cover.

Torchwick slowly approached her spot, taunting her as if he was calling an actual car. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty..."

A banana peel as flung onto his hat, making him growl in irritation as he threw it off. His eyes widened when Sun literally dropped stomped him right in the face, the blond using the moment to flip over to the side, glaring at him.

"Leave her alone!" threatened Sun.

Roman slowly pushed himself up as the Bullhead above them opened up, more White Fang members dropping in, surrounding the monkey Faunus.

"Not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you?" mocked Torchwick.

With a finger snap, the soldiers charged at him. Sun smirked and easily maneuvered through their attacks, knocking out three of them easily. Dodging around more sword attacks, he pulls out a collapsible red staff and got an easier time beating them off. With great reach and strength, he quickly dispatched each one with a single twirling blow. He slammed down his weapon, creating a shockwave that knocked out two of them.

From her position, Blake peered around, watching as Sun fended himself against the last standing grunt. Showing off his acrobatic skills, he jumped and flipped around the poor Mook and stomped down on his back and kicked him over Torchwick.

The crime boss sighed in aggravation and lined up his cane to fire off a shot against Sun. The blond twirled around his staff and defended himself, just as Blake leaped back into action.

"He's mine!" she declared.

Rushing in, Blake attacked furiously and swiftly, quickly dealing out attack after attack against the most wanted man in Vale. With the use of Semblance, she looked like nothing but a blur, attacking at almost every angle. Yet despite this, Roman easily blocked all of her attacks, having only been struck from her first hit.

Spotting a blind spot, Torchwick grabbed it. He managed to punch her in the face, before defending against a few more attacks, this time he went on the offensive and landed a few more hits with his cane and got the advantage. He knocked her down, only to be kicked by Sun, who separated his staff into a pair of nunchucks...that were also guns.

Sun went in and swung around his gun chucks in a rapid pace, firing off a shot every single time. Torchwick matched his speed, easily blocking the monkey Faunus' attacks with just his cane weapon. A moment's pause, and Blake managed to slash the criminal, pushing him back.

The Crime Boss growled in frustration, before taking notice of a container right above the two. Getting up, he fires at its support, causing the large thing to fall down. Blake leaped back, while Sun narrowly avoided it by rolling forward. Unfortunately, he ended up right in front of the nozzle of Torchwick's cane.

Just as he was about to fire, a shot from afar forced him to aim his gun up, leaving him exposed. Jaune came in and drop kicked him in the face, sending him slamming right into thr containers. Torchwick pried himself off, groaning in response.

"Great, more wannabe heroes." he snarked sarcastically. He blinked, taking note of who he was now fighting. He felt a drip of sweat slide down his face, but didn't show the nervousness he was otherwise feeling. "Heh. So, you're the infamous Nero, huh?"

He merely shrugged and drew out Blue Rose, pulling the trigger. Torchwick had the sense to dodge instead of block, the bullets easily piercing through the container behind him. The ginger-haired man continued to evade, the shots narrowly missing him. He rolled into a kneeling position and fired at Jaune.

The blond unsheathed Red Queen and redirected the blast upwards, surprising Torchwick as he looked up to see it explode. This left him vulnerable, allowing Jaune to go in for an attack. He dashed forward and delivered a high powered Streak, knocking Roman to the side and creating a large gash in the containers.

The criminal quickly got up on his feet, just in time to block an overhead strike. The two engaged in close combat, with Jaune unrelenting in his strikes that Torchwick actually had to put in effort in his defence. He tried to get in some attacks himself, but the blond managed to read every one and subsequently blocked them as well.

He was both irritated, and impressed. Their weapons locked, grinding against each other that resulted in sparks. A smirk crossed on both of their lips, clearly enjoying their fight.

Then, reinforcements arrived. NPR, RWY, and a curious ginger-haired girl dropped down and group up with Blake and Sun. Roman saw Ruby, and couldn't help but make a scene.

"Oh, hey, Red! Isn't it pass your bedtime?" he said in a pseudo-jovial tone.

With his attention momentarily averted, Jaune chose the time to project out his spectral arm to Buster the crime boss, grabbing the attention of everyone, barring his closest team. The devil hunter launched him into the sky with an uppercut. He lunged forward and barrage with a Million Stab, repeatedly striking him at a breakneck pace. RWBY, Sun and the other girl looked in awe, as Jaune's flurry of stabs were nothing but a blur, juggling around Torchwick.

They shook themselves out of their reverie when he finally dealt one last, powerful stab that sent Roman back quite far, knocking away the other Fang grunts that tried to interfere. The students finally did what they came for and joined in on the fray.

Blake would've gone for Roman still, but he proved that he was on a league above her. That, and it seemed Jaune had him handled. So instead, she went to stop her brothers and sisters who've gone rogue.

The cat ninja fought the White Fang soldiers with practical ease, knocking most of them out in one strike, or pushing them into the range of her friends. Blake dodged around their gunfire, using Gambol Shroud to reflect them back, running as she did so.

From her blind spot, Fang grunts approached and tried to attack while she was exposed. However, a Glyph materialized in front and caused them to bounce back. Blake turned around saw the Schnee heiress being the one to have cast it.

"Weiss, I'm-"

"Not now!" she interrupted. "We can talk later after this!"

Blake nodded in agreement, deflecting another blade strike from a mook, before moving in for a kick to the gut, elevating her to strike down two more. Weiss flipped above her and cast another Glyph, using her water Dust to blast the others with a spray of high-pressured water, knocking them out.

Roman could only bite down his frustrations as he saw his men be tossed around like a bunch of punks. And it didn't help that the so-called Invincible Champion was among those that. Luckily, he still had some back up.

A couple of more Bullheads appeared, raining fire down on the group. Most of the students quickly headed for the containers to dodge, but not the new girl. Her backpack opened up and out came a sword, before it folded and split into ten exact copies.

Manipulating the blades with near-invisible wires, they flew in front of her and gathered them in a circle, rotating around to slice up the bullets.

As this happened, Roman tried to slink away to one of the docked Bullheads and retreat. Sensing an attack, he rolled to the side and narrowly dodged a Drive shockwave.

"Where you going, pumpkin'? The show's still going."

Jaune leaned against the container, having been the one to release the attack. Tightly gripping Red Queen, he expended more of his demonic energy into his trusty blade and delivered a series of Overdrives towards the criminal. Torchwick was annoyed, being forced to actually start moving about so he wouldn't get further hit.

_"Of all the times Neo had to be away." _he grumbled to himself.

Fishing out an extra crystal of Dust from his coat, he threw the thing to Jaune, who predictably struck it down. Roman smirked and shot it, causing an explosion to mask his escape. The devil hunter grunted, being flung back by the blast without a scratch and right into his friends.

He recovered into a standing position and looked up, seeing some of the Bullheads be sliced half with a gigantic laser beam, the halves crashing into the waters. Jaune turned to the source and found that the ginger-haired girl had been firing it, from her collective of swords.

She smirked and latched two more swords into the cargo behind her, to keep her steady as the rest were impaled into a fleeing Bullhead. With a mighty pull, she crashed it back down and caused it to explode.

Meanwhile, Torchwick managed to board the last Bullhead. He knocked on it with his cane to signal the pilot to take off. "These kids just keep on getting weirder..." he commented with a head shake.

The crime boss walked in and closed the door, the aircraft flying away from the loss battle as the students could do nothing but watch. Jaune sirll attempted, firing off a couple of rounds, but alas, it was too far away.

He twirled back his revolver into its holster, turning to his friends. "You guys alright?"

The devil hunter got a collective grunts of affirmation, with some nodding. He looked around the docks, and was surprised that it went mostly unscathed. Well, apart from the potholes, large gashes on the containers and the wreckage filled with groaning White Fang soldiers.

Overall, it was way better than when he's devil hunting with his uncle and the ladies. With the danger now out of the way, Blake approached Weiss and prepared to ask for forgiveness, when the heiress raised her hand and shook her head.

"I'm the one who whould be saying sorry, Blake. With the two days that passed by, it gave me some time to think about some things... My actions may have been excusable because of my past, however, it doesn't excuse how I treated you, a friend. I'd like to formally apologize, and for us to start over."

Weiss then extended her arm for a shake. Blake wiped a tear from her eye and tightly clasped the offered hand and shook it. Ruby then slung her arms around the two, a bright smile on her face as she cheered and pulled Yang with them.

"Yay! Team RWBY is back together! Let's all make a promise that if we're all having problems, we talk to our friends, and don't run away to someone else." She looked at Sun, offering him an apologetic look. "No offense."

"None taken, I guess?" the blond Faunus scratched the back of his head, looking around to notice that it was now just the five of them. "Hey, where'd the other team go? And that girl you were with?"

"Huh, Penny?"

The all-girl team broke away to see that team JNPR and the girl, Penny, had suddenly disappeared. Yang whistled in amazement, since they didn't even notice them leave. Before the five of them visibly deflated at the sound of police sirens coming their way.

* * *

Back in Beacon, a portal had materialized inside of team JNPR's dorm and the aforementioned team dropped down. Jaune closed it up and called back Yamato into his arm.

"It was a bit mean to leave the five of them behind." voiced out Pyrrha, as she took off accessories.

"Well, I wasn't sure how long I could keep the portal open. Not that used to that feature." was the excuse the cambion gave out. "That, and I didn't want to be reprimanded by the cops for being 'an idiot and charging in recklessly when we could've just called them'."

"And besides, I'm pretty sure they'll just be given a slap on the wrist and a warning." supplied Ren.

"Well, I suppose..."

Jaune plopped down onto his bed, crossing his arms behind his head. "Man, I didn't really think this would be how our date day would end."

"Hmm. One thing's for sure, I enjoyed it. I wouldn't mind doing something like that again. Definitely lots of fun."

The Arc Devil chuckled as his girlfriend laid down on his chest. "I'm starting to think you enjoy fighting way more than you should."

Pyrrha didn't respond, and instead smiled. She snuggled further into his chest as Jaune wrapped his Devil Bringer around her, awaiting the sound of slumber to claim them both.

**

* * *

**

**EDIT: Someone pointed out at how heavy 2000 tons would actually be and how overly strong Nora actually is if she could lift that much, so I decided to reduce to JUST 50 tons. But who's to say she won't be able to do that in the future ;) **

**I felt like absolute shit while I wrote this. I felt very sick. For a moment, I thought I had COVID and to be honest, I was pretty fucking terrified. Luckily, it wasn't and was just a random flu I got. So, I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't up to standard.**

**Oh, by the way, I'm curious, would guys mind if I start alternating Jaune's name with Nero? That's it for now. **

**As always, keep safe and please...tell me your thoughts down in the reviews. **


	26. Best Day Ever But Not Really?

In the commercial district of Vale was a humble book shop with the name of 'Tukson's Book Trade', run by the namesake Faunus. Emerald and Mercury walk up to the building. As its name suggested, the place was filled with all types of books.

However, no one seemed to be the manning the counter. Mercury walked up to the books near the door while Emerald went to ring the service bell.

"Be right there!" exclaimed a voice from the back room, presumably Tukson.

He pushes through the set of double doors, carrying a mountain stack of books as he walked backwards. Changing directions, he placed the books onto a near-by shelf, clapping the dust off his hands.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home of every book under the sun. How may I..." He turned around to face his customers, seemingly taken aback before giving them a 'smile'. "How can I help you?"

"Just browsing." informed Mercury as he slammed a book shut.

Emerald shook at her colleague and looked at the large man. "Actually, I was wondering, do you have any copies of 'The Thief and The Butcher'?" she asked.

"Yes, we do."

"That's great." Emerald said with an excited tone.

"Would you...like a copy?" Tukson asked.

"No, just wondering." The verdette shook her head, as Mercury closed another book, louder than it should be. "Ooh! What about 'Violet's Garden?' In paperback?"

The gray-haired male picked up said back, a bored looked on his face. "He's got it. In hardback too." Taking a peek, he loudly closes the book once again in disappointment, tossing back into the stack. "Eh. No pictures. Hey, do you have any comics?"

"Near the front." aptly answered Tukson.

"Oh, no, wait!" Emerald's eye lit up, a mischievous smirk crossing her face. "What... about... 'Third Crusade'?"

Tukson was now unnerved under the stares of the two, a feeling of dread coming up. "I...um...don't believe we carry that one."

Once again, Mercury loudly closed another book, a quirked brow and a smirk on his face. "Oh."

"What was this place called again?" Emerald questioned.

"Tukson's Book Trade." he supplied.

"And you're Tukson?"

"That's right." he confirmed.

"So then I take it that you're the one that came up with the catchphrase? Which was...?" prodded the dark-skinned female.

"Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun." he repeated with a sigh.

"But not 'Third Crusade'?" pointed out Mercury.

By now, Tukson was getting agitated, not liking how these two kids were pushing him around. "It's just a catchphrase." he defended.

"It's false advertising!" retorted Mercury.

"You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep, Tukson." Emerald threatened in a calm tone.

Her colleague moved to activate a switch to darken the room, and give them a little... privacy for their alone time. However-

"When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend."

The three swiveled around, seeing Luna stride in with a neutral expression. Both Emerald and Mercury grew nervous at the sight of a Huntress, meanwhile, Tukson was relieved, and hoped that the bloodshed that was about to ensue would be avoided.

"William Blake, right?" he asked, regarding the quote she just said

Luna nodded with a smile. "That's right. He was my father's favorite, and I picked up on reading some of his works. They're quite amazing."

"Well, I have a complete collection of all of his works. Would you like a copy?"

The blonde chuckled, giving the Faunus a nod. "That is the reason why I came to this shop."

Tuksin smiled and went to go grab the copy from out the back. Meanwhile, Emerald and Mercury slinked away, undetected. Luna raised an eyebrow, noticing the two's sudden disappearance, but didn't think much of it.

* * *

Outside, Lady was leaning against the shop's front window, watching as the people minded their business and went on with their lives. By her feet, the familiar briefcase that was Pandora rested there. She craned her head to the right, seeing Luna exit out of the shop.

"You got what you need?"

The Deadly Moon nodded, showing her the new books she got.

"Then come on. I'm up for some grub. I know a decent diner we can eat at. They sell some good noodles."

* * *

Back at Beacon, team JNPR and RWBY were lounging at the cafeteria. Although strangely, Ruby wasn't present. The seven of them were absolutely bored out of their minds. Blake was skimming through some old notes, Weiss was filing her nails, Nora was tossing grapes at Yang with her spoon, Ren was catching up on some reading, Jaune stared aimlessly around while Pyrrha was the only one actually eating.

Then, Ruby came, carrying a rather large binder. She placed it down on the table with a loud thud, catching everyone's attention. On the binder's cover 'Vytal Festival Activities, Property of Weiss Schnee' was crossed out in red, while the words 'Best Day Ever Activities' were written underneath by the same marker.

Ruhy cleared her throat, gesturing to her team and friends. "Sister... Friends... Weiss."

"Hey!" the aforementioned heiress exclaimed.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream." the Rosette continued.

By now, their attention was solely on Ruby, though Nora still continued to fling grapes at Yang's direction.

"A dream, that all of us will come together, and have the most fun anyone had...ever!"

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss accused, after having taking a much closer look at it.

Ruby denied such accusation, giving her partner a peace sign. Blake seemed to be confused, asking what her leader seemed to being going with.

"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!" she clarified, pointing at Blake.

"I always kick off my semesters with a Yang!" she punned, very lamely. "Guys? Am I right?"

Her friends looked at her, very unamused by the lame joke she just made, with Nora even booing and throwing an apple at the blonde to put her point across, making Yang glare at the ginger.

Jaune lost a bit of interest and only listened to Ruby idly as he sorted through his messages on his Scroll. Most of them were from his family, asking him how he was, with the occasional notifications from his subscriptions to some magazines. Then, there was also the notification about a game he wishlisted being on sale.

The blond blinked as he was faced with a spoonful of strawberries. Jaune looked over at Pyrrha, who smiled at him and kept it steady. He smiled back and happily accepted the delectable fruit.

But his smile was quickly dropped as he saw Nora pick up the pie and throw it at Yang. Unfortunately, however, her aim was a little bit off and hit Weiss straight in the face.

The rest of the white-haired girl's team looked at Nora in disbelief, who immediately pointed at Ren in an attempt to shift the blame. Jaune shook his head in bemusement until he saw Ruby grin impishly. But soon, he matched it when he heard the words that left her mouth.

"FOOD FIGHT!"

Team RWBY grabbed some of their dishes and threw it at their sister team. However, JNPR's reflexes proved excellent as they dashed back to a different table and flipped it over, blocking the food, using it as a makeshift shield.

By now, some of the other students began to run out of the cafeteria to prevent themselves from getting dirtied, while some remained, participating in the endeavor.

In the middle of it all, was RWBY and JNPR, the latter having managed at amass an amount of tables, stacking them into an even better fort, Jaune being above it, while his teammates were below.

Ruby stomped down her foot and pointed at them in a dramatic manner, holding a milk carton in the other. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!" She crushed the milk for emphasis. "It will be delicious!"

Behind her, her team screamed in agreement, with Weiss having quickly cleaned herself up. Jaune ran a hand through his head, his eyes glinting.

"Let's have some fun..." he smirked in excitement.

He flipped down from his position and landed besides his team, signaling them. Ren stomped down on a tray holding four watermelons and spin kicked them towards their opponents. Pyrrha, meanwhile, hurled two, and Nora just threw a table full of them. Jaune chuckled, and discreetly pitched an apple.

"Yang, turkey!" ordered Ruby.

The blonde picked up two turkeys and used them like makeshift gauntlets, slamming them together. She rushed in and started punching through the melons sent by the three.

Blake jumped in, having grabbed a pair of baguettes to assist her partner. Yang was caught completely off-guard by the apple and was struck in the stomach, pushing her out of the turkeys.

The Belladonna quickly used her baguettes and smacked the turkeys toward Pyrrha. The redhead grunted and spinkicked one, before axe kicking the other.

Jaune grabbed a baguette and dashed into the fray, engaging in a duel with Blake. The two clashed, exchanging swift blows. But despite her best efforts, she couldn't beat him and was promptly knocked back with a rising strike. The blond quickly jumped back and reflected the thrown baguettes courtesy of Ruby, losing his own in the process.

The young Rose slid on a tray, using it to get within Jaune's range, and started throwing grapes at him in a rapid pace. Ren jumped in and started deflecting them with leeks he had grabbed, defending his partner.

Weiss quickly used this as a distraction and sprayed maple syrup in their direction. While Jaune managed to evade, Ren wasn't so lucky, deeply coated with the sticky substance. Yang followed this up by tossing some waffles at the guy, sending him slamming into a couple of tables.

"Renny!" screamed Nora.

Bloody vengeance was the only thing that screamed in Nora's mind. She impaled a metal pole into a melon, turning it into a makeshift hammer. The ginger screamed and swung, hitting the White Rose partners straight into a pillar, causing it to crumble down. She moved onto Yang, who had equipped new turkey gloves. The two fought for only a second, and the blonde was immediately sent crashing through the roof.

Blake dodged around the failing debris and grabbed a chain of sausages. She whipped it at Nora, using it to disarm her, before throwing it back, causing the ginger to crash into the soda machine, causing some cans to spill.

Pyrrha smirked and activated her Semblance, gathering all of the fallen cans, and converged them into one point. She grunted and began to barrage Blake, before using it to swipe her away, covering her from head to toe in soda.

Ruby stood up, the only one left in her team. She glared at her opponents in determination and disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. In actuality, she was just running around, gathering food via tailwind, which also led to JNPR being sucked in.

Ruby spun rapidly, creating a tornado of food and stopped, the force slamming Nora, Pyrrha and Ren in to the wall. Just as she was about to celebrate, she noticed that Jaune was missing. The young Rose spun around, seeing Jaune stand atop of the table, clapping sarcastically.

"So, you spin to defeat. Spin to defeat. It's almost hilarious to think. Is, Ruby Rose, in actuality, a Beyblade?" he spoke in an over exaggerated Shakespearean tone. "But it matters not. For I am here, to claim vengeance, for those you've defeated."

The two team leaders stared down, waiting for the other to make a move. Jaune smirked and grabbed the bottle of ketchup and mustard and started rapidly squirting them at Ruby, acting like they were a pair of guns.

The young Rose dodged them in a flimsy manner, almost getting hit by some of them. Ruby skid to a stop, looking for a way to counterattack. She grabbed a bunch of bananas and started firing them at her friend.

Once he was out, Jaune ducked under the barrage of bananas and flipped over to the side, grabbing a swordfish. The blond cocked his head and sliced through the yellow fruits that came his way.

Ruby didn't stop, and just kept on pelting her first friend with bananas, until she ran out. Jaune stared at the oncoming attack and performed one massive swing. Pointing down the sword fish, the bananas were immediately revealed to be sliced in perfect cubes.

Ruby panicked. She looked over, trying to find something else to throw, until her eyes locked on to some cartons of orange juice.

"Fire in the hole!" she screamed then threw the cartons.

Instead of slicing threw them, Jaune back flipped away from them, and towards some soda cans on top of a tray. He grinned and stomped down on the tray, launching the cans into the air. He grabbed them all in one swoop and started shaking them. One by one, he threw them at Ruby, the cans exploding, unable to contain the fizz.

Ruby meeped and ran in circles, trying not get struck by the showers of soda. A can fell in front of her and blew up, causing her to stumble. She wiped her eyes clean and it widened as she saw Jaune rushing towards her, pie in hand. Ruby grunted as the blond slammed the pie into her face, sending her skidding right next to Weiss.

Jaune smirked and knelt down, silently spreading his arms across as he reveled in his victory. In the background, Sun was watching with a wide grin, accompanied by his partner, Neptune. Surprisingly, there was not a single stain on him. The same couldn't be said for Neptune, however.

The door besides them were shoved open, revealing an angry Goodwitch. Even Jaune was intimidated by the glare on the blonde teacher's expression. With a wave of her riding crop, she uses her Semblance, Telekinesis, and re-oeganizes the entire cafeteria, even removing the stains the good left or some of the rubble being put back into place as if they had never been broken before.

"Children, please." the anger in Goodwitch's face had disappeared, replaced only by a scolding look. "Don't play with your friend."

Nora burped put loud in respond, eliciting a laugh from the two teams. Yang came crashing back down, making RWBY and JNPR fail even harder in composing themselves as they just laughed at the events that had just happened.

Glynda sighed in irritation as she walked away, only to be approached by the headmaster, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Let it go."

"They're supposed to be defenders of the world." she pointed out.

"And they will be. Besides, they are still children." Ozpin reminded her. "So why not let them play that part? After all, it isn't a role that they'll have forever." he finished with in a cryptic manner.

The two of them watched as their students exited the cafeteria and head out for their next thing to do. The eight of them chattered joyfully, trying to decide what to do next.

Jaune hummed in curiosity, hearing the familiar vibration of his Scroll. He pulled it out and smiled at who it was. He then excused himself. Clicking accept, he greeted the contact.

"And how's my favorite little sister?"

**"I'm your only little sister, dummy." **rang out Patty's voice with a giggle.

"Which is exactly why you're my favorite. So, how have you been squirt? You been good?"

**"Yep! I just got done with my lessons, so mommy's gonna be taking me out to the sundae parlor. She's really good at teaching homeschool!"**

Jaune chuckled nervously, remembering how much of a slave driver his mother was when it came to teaching him how to properly use Yamato. She didn't accept anything that wasn't perfection, but hey, it worked out fine. It did leave him bed-ridden for a few weeks though.

**"But enough about me, what about you? Have you been enjoying Beacon lately?"**

"Yeah, I have. Like, a lot, actually. It's great."

**"Ooh! Just remembered! Big sister Luna said she has a surprise for you."**

The blond quirked an eyebrow. "Surprise? What kind?"

**"She didn't say. Ooh! Mommy's calling for me. Until next time, big brother."**

"Yeah. Take care, Patty-cakes."

Jaune clicked goodbye and wondered what his little sister meant by surprise. He shook it off, deciding to think about it some other time and moved to catch up with his friends.

* * *

A few days later and most of the students from the different academies have arrived, numerous airships are seen entering, though they were far different from the regular Bullhead.

From his office, Ozpin and Goodwitch can all see it unfold, with the latter sending a disapproving look right at the aircrafts.

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work whenever he travels." she spoke, annoyed.

"Well, running an academy and a military makes him a busy man... But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore." he agreed, seeing more come in to view.

The headmaster turned around as his desk beeped, a holographic message popping up, asking permission to enter. "Come in." Ozpin said.

The doors slide open, revealing Ironwood. The good general approached the man with a friendly expression.

"Ozpin!" he said with an amicable tone.

"Hello, General." he kept himself rooted in his position, nodding his greeting at his fellow headmaster.

Ironwood chuckled, telling him to drop the formalities. The two men smiled at each other and shook hands as Professor Goodwitch approached.

"Glynda! It's certainly been too long since we last met as well." he spoke with an almost flirty tone.

The blonde chuckled, giving him a wave before walking outside, leaving the two headmasters all alone. Ozpin faced his desk, picking up a mug and a kettle, pouring in a drink.

"So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival."

He handed over the mug to Ironwood, whom accepted it. "Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year. Besides, with you hosting, I thought that this might be a good opportunity for us to catch up."

Ozpin sat back down on his desk, holding a new mug filled with coffee. "Well, I can certainly appreciate that thought...but the small fleet outside of my window has me concerned."

"Oz, you know why I brought them here." interjected.

The headmaster didn't deny it and nodded. "I do, but we are in a time of peace. Shows of power like this are just going to give off the wrong impression."

"But if what Qrow said is true..." urged the general.

"Then we will handle it tactfully." answered Ozpin. "So I suggest that you not scare people by transportinf hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

Ironwood sighed, explaining himself to his friend. "I'm just being cautious."

"As am I. Which is why I've procured the service of three certain devil hunters. From what I've gathered, they were at the epicenter of the R-Incident. They can handle this. What's more, there is also the new class that the councils want to implement. Things will be fine, James."

Ironwood remained silent, setting down the mug. He nodded at Beacon's headmaster and walked to the exit.

* * *

Jaune's jaw dropped, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. To his side, his team had the same reactions. There had been an announcement for all students, disregarding on what Academy you were from, to head to the arena that usually housed Professor Goodwitch's class.

When they arrived, all of the faculty were present, except for Ozpin. Almost immediately, the students broke into loud murmuring with each other in wonder at what was happening. That was, until, Lady and Luna strode in, the both of them pushing in a cage covered with a tarp.

"I guess this is what Patty meant when sis said she had a surprise..." he muttered to himself.

The Deadly Moon loudly cleared her throat and gathered everyone's attention on her. "Hello, everyone. I'm Luna Arc. Yes, before anyone asks Jaune's my brother. And no, I'm not interested in dating. Shove it."

"And I'm Lady. Yeah, it's my real, legal name. Don't ask." she spoke in her business tone. "Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why you all got called here, and what's the cage we got in the back."

Luna then took over again. "Tell me, have any of you heard of the incident that happened in Mistral that happened months ago?"

"You mean the terrorist attack? The R-incident?" answered one of the Haven students in a questioning tone.

Lady nodded. "That's right. Except it wasn't actually a terrorist attack. That's what the Mistralian government said to cover up the actual reason so the people wouldn't panic, but now, at the urging of the council, they decide it was time to tear off the curtain and reveal what it was."

The two Huntress unlocked the cage, and almost immediately three Kobeas slithered out, hissing very menacingly. The reactions of the students varied. Some spoke in curiosity, while most became fearful of these unknown monsters.

Of course, team JNPR felt their bodies tense up at seeing the demon lackeys that served Orochi. The serpentine monsters hissed at the students and spat out globs of acid. Good witch quickly reacted and summoned out Glyphs to block the projectiles.

Distracted by it, the Kobras were caught in Luna's shadow snare, forcing them to remain still. Lady walked up to the front, gesturing to them with a serious look.

"Your eyes don't deceive you. These are demons. One of the two kinds that wrecked havoc in Mistral. They're as ferocious as the stories and tales you've all probably heard as a kid. Now, let's make something clear? Are they more dangerous than Grimm? Absolutely. Here's why."

The Walking Arsenal gave the Deadly Moon a sure nod. Luna manipulated one of the Kobras and swiped at Lady's arm. The heterochromiac woman grunted as blood coated her arm, shocking all of the students. She raised it up for all of them to see.

"Most demons have an inherent ability to bypass Aura, something that the Grimm can't do. What's more, they have a plethora of dangerous abilities that you can imagine. But, we're not here to scare you." she assured.

"The councils of the kingdoms have made a decision that a student in any Huntsman academy must be to taught to have at least basic demon hunting knowledge." explained Luna. "And that's why we're here. To teach you how to properly defend yourself agasint them, should the need arise."

"Psh. I can take 'em." proclaimed Yang with a cocky smirk.

The two female devil hunters glanced at each other with a quirked brow. "You think you're up for it?"

The blonde nodded, her smirk never disappearing. Lady could only shook her head as she joined the teachers to spectate. Luna released her hold on one of the Kobras, surprising Yang as it immediately pounced.

"Woah!" she cried out before rolling out of the way.

"Lesson 1 - Always be on your guard." lectured Lady. "Unlike the Grimm, most demons have a shred of intelligence, so they can plan out their attacks and take you by surprise."

Yang then spent the next couple of minutes weaving around the snake demon's slash attacks, reading its attack pattern. She dashed back and threw a Straight, managing to disorient it. The Blonde Bombshell grunted and fired out a barrage of kinetic blasts.

The Kobra hissed in annoyance, shrugging off the attacks and shifted its legs into a tail, slithering towards the blonde. Yang reacted in surprise and tried it again. This time, she now knew her attacks seemed ineffective.

Once more, she rolled out of the way as the demon tried to pounce her. Yang roared and stepped on its tail, barraging it with a series of punches. As she prepared to strike her uppercut, the Kobra bashed her head with its own, sending her stumbling back

"Lesson 2 - Most demons have no sense of honor. This should be obvious. Don't be afraid to use anything to your advantage when fighting demons if you wanna live."

Yang's eyes widened as she tried to block the attacks with her gauntlets. She took up a boxer stance and swerved around the follow up attacks. Dashing in, she jabbed and jabbed the serpentine monster and clocked it straight on the head.

This time, she did some more damage. The Kobra shook off its headache and spat out globs of acid at her. The blonde hurriedly fired out kinetic blasts that canceled out the attacks, luckily. However, it caused a small smoke screen to erupt.

Yang's eyes widened as the Kobra jumped from out the smoke. She tried to push the demon off as it snapped its jaws at her, trying to bite off her face.

"Come on, Yang! You can do it!" cheered out Ruby.

"I'm...trying!" she responded.

Her eyes shrunk as she saw a strand of her golden locks in the Kobra's maw. A furious scowl overcame her expression and she literally exploded. Lady and Luna raised an eyebrow at the development, wondering how things would now turn out.

Yang stood up, her Semblance active and her eyes blood red. She howled in anger and charged at the Kobra, punching off its fangs. The blonde didn't let up and bombarded the snake demon with strike after stroke, her strength partially increased by the earlier head bash, but magnified because of her fury.

She sent it into the air with an uppercut, quickly chasing after. Yang threw out three heavy punches, following it up with a forceful downwards kicks, crashing it back down. Wounding back her fist, it glowed a burnt orange as she descended and slammed it into the Kobra's chest, hard.

The Orochi demon let off one last hiss at it shriveled up into a husk and loss its life. Yang panted as Lady looked at her Scroll. Assessing her performance.

"It took you ten minutes to kill a Kobra. Not bad." she commented. "But seriously. Freaking out over your hair? There are better things to be worrying about than hair."

"Hey, if you're gonna fight, you might as well make it look good and look your best while doing it, amirite?"

Lady didn't refute it and only smirked. "Well, let's see if someone can beat your record." She scanned through the students, only a short few of them have their hands raised. The Walking Arsenal then spotted a certain ginger waving her arms wildly, trying to get her attention. Lady shook her head in amusement.

"Alright, fine, Nora, you win. Come on down here."

The Ginger Bomber cheered excitedly, bringing confusion to her classmates. She merrily skipped down to the arena, carrying her trusty Magnhild.

"Ready!" she called out.

Luna released the second Kobra and immediately it spat out a glob of acid at the orangenette. Nora grinned and whacked it back the sender, splashing the snake demon in the face with its own attack.

As it hissed in pain, trying to recover, Nora slammed down her hammer, creating a shockwave that repulsed it into the air. She sent herself towards it with a grenade explosion. With a giggle, she smacked around the Kobra, not even letting it get an attack on her. Spinning around, she slammed it back to the floor.

Nora shifted her hammer into its grenade launcher, a large grin on her face. Pulling the trigger, she shot a grenade right in its maw just as it opened it. The Kobra blinked, not getting the time to react it blew up

Nora dropped back down, twirling Magnhild around as she put it away and flashed a peace sign. Lady looked at her Scroll, and nodded expectantly.

"Thirty-five seconds. Great job, Nora!"

Jaws were dropping in surprise. The fight with Yang made it seem like the Kobra was a slightly difficult fight, yet Nora easily beat like a tutorial.

"Alright. Time to show you kids how it's done." exclaimed Lady, hefting up Pandora.

Team JNPR's eyes widened at the sight of the Devil Arm, surprised that Lady had it when it was normally under Dante's possession. The female devil hunter nodded at Luna, prompting her to release the last Kobra.

Orochi's Demon lunged, only to be smacked away with Pandora. Lady lifted up, switching it to Epidemic, before turning it into Hatred and fired out three powerful rockets at the stunned Kobra, engulfing it in a large explosion. When the smoke died down, there was nothing but ash left in its place.

Lady smirked as the Devil Arm turned back into its base form, checking her Scroll for the time.

"Twelve seconds, huh? Maybe I should've just gone the SSStylish route. And made it go longer."

Packing away the weapon, the Walking Arsenal turned to the shell-shocked students, who expressions were still marred with disbelief. Lady gazed at Goodwitch and gave a brief nod. The blonde professor understood and whacked her riding crop, bringing them all back to reality.

"You may be all thinking, 'Wow! She killed off that demon so quickly, that must mean they're exaggerating over how lethal these demons are!', but that's wrong. Lady's been in the demon hunting business for over twenty years. So she's got the experience advantage. Imagine, someone like Ms. Xiao Long took ten minutes to kill that demon. What if they swarmed in numbers? She'd been killed. We just wanted all of you to get a glimpse of what the actual first class will be like. This? It's just a preview. A taste of what's to come... That'll be all. Go ahead, clear out your minds, and get settled back in Beacon. And apologize for the inconvenience."

Every student silently filed all out of the doors, processing this revelation that was, frankly, shoved right in their faces. JNPR met up with RWBY in their dorm room, who still had rather downcast expressions on their faces.

"Wow... This is a lot to take in." commented Yang. "It's hard to believe. Who knew demons existed?"

"We did." silently commented Jaune. "We've known, since we were kids. Hunting 'em for that long."

His teams nodded, confirming what he had said. The all-girl teams looked shocked. Ruby then asked a question. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Demons aren't your every day occurrence, Ruby." simply answered Pyrrha. "None of you would have believed us."

Ren continued. "And you saw how other reacted. Some of them still think this is all a trick. Others may not seem like it, but no doubt they're breaking down. They have the Grimm to worry about, now another problem's dumped onto their laps."

"Besides, it would've spooked out people, make them even more afraid. And you know what happens? That leads to attracting more Grimm." concluded Nora, speaking seriously.

RWBY glanced at each other, still unsure. They whispered among themselves, seemingly arguing regarding something. It took them a while until they came to understanding. Ruby stepped forward, being the one to speak for them.

"Since you guys are already experienced with this sort of stuff, we were wondering if...you guys can teach us?" she asked with a hopeful look.

NPR had no objections, but ultimately, Jaune held the final choice. The blond looked at all of them with a serious glance, before it melted away with a smirk.

"Sure."

* * *

"Demons, hmmm?" mused Cinder.

The femme fatale stood in the dorm room assigned to her cohorts. With this new tidbit of information, she thought it best to inform her mistress of a suggestion that she had.

"Perhaps we can tame and control one? It'll be a lot easier bringing these fools to their knees."

Her eye momentarily glowed as a chuckle escaped her lips.

* * *

**Holy shit. 300 favorites and followers?! You guys are awesome! Although, I must apologize if this isn't up to standard. Still am not feeling that well, but I'm just pushing through. Don't worry, I'm mostly fine.**

**If any of you have questions, don't be afraid to ask them down in the reviews. As always, thanks for reading. Stay safe, stay sanitized. Stay... I dunno what else to say. See ya! **


	27. A Little Night Out

Ruby let out a yawn, rubbing her eyes to try and shake off the drowsiness she felt. It wasn't only her. The rest of her team were present as well, all four of them garbed in their Huntress attire and carried their weapons.

Demon Hunting class wouldn't be officially implemented until next week, so Jaune decided to start their training the next day. Team RWBY had been woken up very early in the morning and was sent a text by the blond to be at Emerald Forest.

Thirty minutes in, and he still wasn't there.

"I'm going to wring his neck when for ruining our beauty sleep." mumbled Yang angrily, a tick mark growing on her forehead.

The others muttered some form of agreement as they continued to wait for him. Their eyes shot open as the sound of leaves rustling grabbed their attention. RWBY turned to that direction and saw Jaune approach them. A sigh of relief escaped their lips while Yang chose to voice out their irritation.

"What's the big deal, making us wake up at five in the morning and show up late, huh?!"

He didn't respond, his expression remaining blank. Yang was about to shout at him some more, until Blake stopped her. The cat Faunus felt a bit unnerved that Jaune hasn't said anything at all, continuing to stalk up to them.

"Um, Jaune? I-is there something wrong?" asked Ruby.

**Play Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition - Let's Just See **

The Devil Hunter drew out Red Queen and simply kept on walking towards them without a word. All four of them grew apprehensive, their hands hovering over their weapons as they tried to decide on what to do.

"I think we should run..." suggested Weiss.

Ruby and Blake were all for it, but Yang was having none of it.

"Screw that, come on, we can take him!" she proclaimed, firing off two kinetic blasts.

Jaune deflected both shots towards to some unfortunate trees, his blade exploding with a flourish of flame as courtesy of a Max-Act, serving to intimidate them. The blond blinked his eyes turned blood red. Yang took a step back and decided to maybe agree with Weiss's decision.

"On second thought? Yeah, let's run."

The four ladies turned and broke off into a sprint. Jaune slowly picked up the pace and started running after them. Ruby sliced up some trees with Crescent Rose, creating some road block for their hunter. Yang followed her sister's idea, blasting down some branches as they pass by them.

The cambion uttered no sound as he navigated through the fallen trunks with ease, performing a few flips and tricks while he did so. He slowly gained in on team RWBY, increasing his speed. Ruby yelped in surprised, seeing him so close.

"I don't think we can outrun him." Planting down her foot, she came to a stop and brandished her scythe. "Then we should fight him head on!"

With a war cry, Ruby charged in at the blond and attacked, fiercely swinging around her weapon. Jaune grunted and blocked each of her strikes. He slid back to dodged one of her attacks and launched his own with an EX Shuffle attack, slashing at her with two powerful blows. Dashing forward, he delivered an EX Streak attack, sweeping her off her feet and right into a tree.

The campion flipped to the side, dodging a kinetic blast. Yang jumped at him and peppered with more shots. He danced around the projectiles, staring at her with no expression. This infuriated the blonde and she engaged him a close combat.

Jaune kept on parrying her attacks and struck back when the opportunity presented itself. He rolled to the side, dodging her ground pound. Raising his blade, he defended himself against a Superman punch. The Arc Devil tripped her off-balance and smacked her away, smashing the blonde into a tree.

Looking forward, Weiss zipped forward for a lunging strike. Shaking his head, he deflected her strike and showed her a real lunging strike. Roaring loudly, he Stingered her and launched her across the forest. From behind, Blake tried to go for a surprise attack, but was blocked and sent flying with a palm strike.

Team RWBY groaned as Jaune planted down Red Queen into the ground, leaning into it with a bored expression.

"We're not gonna beat him one-on-one." realized Ruby. Her eyes lit up, getting an idea. "Let's try out our team attacks!"

Pushing themselves up, the other three nodded and got themselves ready. However, Jaune rushed in and didn't give them the chance. Ruby yelped and raised Crescent Rose, locking blades with him. Weiss and Blake charged in for a sneak attack.

The Son of Vergil disarmed the young girl and dragged her around, putting her up front to take her teammates' attacks. Ruby cried out in pain as their blades struck her body, surprising Blake and Weiss.

Tossing aside the Rosette, Jaune capitalized on the opportunity and delivered two savage blows to their stomach, before spinning around in a 360 arc and used the momentum to send them flying.

Yang practically zipped to him in anger, Semblance active. She cocked back her hand and threw a punch. Jaune caught her hand, pushing him back by a considerable amount but he kept himself planted.

Grabbing her by the waist, Jaune performed three rolling suplexes onto the blonde and ascended into the air, harshly piledriving her into the ground.

Looking around, he spotted Weiss recovering and dashed forward for a Stinger stab. The Schnee Heiress materialized a Glyph to defend herself, but Jaune had other plans. He skid to a stop and switched to a Million Stabs, rapidly striking the Glyph. Weiss struggled to keep it up, very surprised that it was being chipped through.

With one last plunge, Jaune broke through her defenses and knocked her out. A few shots barely missed him, courtesy of Blake, who hid somewhere in the bushes. Lifting up his sword, he exerted some of his energy into Red Queen and flung it at the cat Faunus like a boomerang.

The Belladonna's eyes widened in pure surprise and turned Gambol Shroud back into its blade form, blocking against the sword coming right at her like a boomerang. She was pushed back, causing her to stumble. But, she managed to hold her ground and stop it, lodging it into a tree.

"Nice one, Blake!" called out her partner, pushing herself off the ground. "Without his sword, we might stand a-" Yang immediately ducked for cover at the sound of Blue Rose going off, hiding behind a tree. "Okay, seriously! Are we sure that thing's not a hand cannon?!"

Blake shielded her eyes from the splinters that scattered, the tree that they were hiding in slowly being reduced to nothing. "Well, it does pack quite a lot of power."

The two of them jumped out of their hiding spot and rained fire upon on Jaune. The Devil Hunter stopped shooting, bobbing and weaving around their attacks.

Ruby groaned, rubbing her head as she got up. She shook it off and grabbed her scythe, seeing Yang and Blake fighting against JNPR's leader, fending off their attacks with ease. She couldn't help but wonder just how strong their friend really was.

Patting her face, she tried to focus back at the task at hand. The Rose Reaper charged back into the fray, swinging at the blond. Jaune curved around the slashes and kicked himself up with Blake's body, lining up his shots at the young girl.

Ruby twirled around Crescent Rose, blocking the shots and returned fire. To their surprise, Jaune summoned a Glyph below him to ascend higher into the sky. His hand crackled with energy, unseen by the four. Gripping Blue Rose tightly, he pulled the trigger and fired off a Charged Shot.

The team leader almost didn't see it coming and dodged at the very last second. Jaune Tricked down, the four of them charging at him in all directions. A small smirk encompassed his lips as his eyes narrowed and RWBY just ceased moving.

He Tricked to the tree where Red Queen was embedded and ripped it out. Brandishing his sword, it hummed with demonic energy, ready to be used. Jaune released his hold on the time bubble, unleashing the Overdrive shockwave.

When time resumed for the girls, they were very confused as Jaune disappeared from their sight.

"Huh?!"

"What the-!"

"Where did he go?!"

Blake saw the incoming blade of energy, but was too late to warn her teammates. The attack struck and it steadily chipped at their Aura before it exploded and sending them crashing right in a tree. Ruby and Blake's Aura shimmered but didn't break, however, the same couldn't be said for Yang and Weiss..

Despite it all, Ruby pushed herself up and tightly gripped her weapon, still determined to fight. Jaune smirked at the little Reaper and leapt for a homing revolution strike.

Ruby blocked his attack and pushed him off, firing out a few shots at the blond. Jaune shot them down with his own. Brandishing his blade, he charged forward with a roar and engaged in a clash with her. The two team leaders traded blows, Ruby doing her absolute best to keep up with him as sparks flew across her face.

The Rosette flashes a cheeky smirk at the blond and pulled back, Blake joining in on the attack, taking him by slight surprise. The two went on the offensive and continuously barraged Jaune.

The cambion easily defended himself against them, continuing on wielding his sword with just one hand. He parried both of their attacks, mockingly wagging his finger at the two before disarming and batted them away.

Groaning loudly, their Aura broke, leaving them vulnerable to any sort of deadly attack. Jaune pointed his gun at them, before holstering it away with a satisfying spin.

"That concludes the first class." he said.

"Excuse me?!"

Weiss and Yang dragged themselves towards the others, a glare on the Schnee Heiress' face.

"Yeah, I agree with Weiss-cream. What do you mean 'first class'?!"

Jaune sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Maybe he took it a little bit too far with the act. "Demons comes in all form of sizes and shapes. Could look like a skeletal dog on fire. A burlap sack possessed by insects. A sword that acts like a shark. Or even us... Human and Faunus. Like what Lady said, you need to always be on your guard. Had I been a demon, you four wouldn't be standing right now. Demons can pop out any time, anywhere. You need to be ready. This was just to see if you guys can handle the training."

All four of them felt themselves shrink. That was just a taste of what's the come?!

"This is gonna suck..." muttered Yang, the others sagging in agreement.

"Well, I've been doing this kind of stuff since I was about nine. And this is to help you guys get ahead for the actual class. Don't worry about it so much... That's it for now. Ren will send you guys some material to read through later. Get some rest."

* * *

RWBY dragged themselves back to their dorm room. Classes had finally ended, and they were most grateful for Pyrrha, who had given them Vital Stars. It was 4pm and they intend to head off to find out what Torchwick and the White Fang were planning.

They would've asked team JNPR for help, but they had a team hangout planned, so they didn't want to disturb. So, it'll be just four of them... And it most definitely had nothing to do with their prides having been broken earlier. Nope, not at all.

"So! You guys remember the plan?" asked Ruby.

"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem." Weiss said with a slightly smug tone.

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to to hand out eoswrs and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning." supplied Blake.

"Let's say Jaune and I have a mutual info broker. Hopefully, he should have some useful info regarding Torchwick." Yang smiled at her sister.

Ruby nodded, brimming with excitement. "Alright! Let's meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found. Let's do this!"

"Yeah!"

The four ladies blinked. They turned to their window and saw Sun hanging upside down with his tail, smiling at them. The whole team took a step back in surprise.

"Sun!" spoke out Blake, alarmed.

"How did you get up here?" Yang asked in curiosity.

"I am a monkey Faunus, I kind of have experience climbing stuff. That, and this tree helped a lot." he answered.

Sun let go and flipped into the dorm room, revealing the large tree that he used to climb up on. Ruby titled her head in confusion, having not notice that there was a tree by their window.

"So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?" he asked.

"Sorry, Sun but we don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." Ruby stepped up, reasoning with the blond.

"Psh, that's dumb! We should always get our friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune." he said, pointing his thumb at the window.

The girls leaned out of the window to see the aforementioned male standing against the wall. He waved to them in greeting, before slightly losing his composure, asking to be let in because of how high up it was.

With two new people, they were forced to slightly modify their plans. "Alright, I'm still going with Weiss. Sun, you go with Blake, and Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. That okay?"

No one had such complaints and they went off to their designated areas.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss walked up to the Transmit Tower, the former looking at it in awe, since she's forgotten how big it exactly was. As they were about to enter when Ruby saw someone familiar out of the corner of her eyes.

"Hey, is that Penny?" she muttered to herself.

The Rosette ran towards the ginger-haired girl, calling out to her. Penny froze up and started running away, leading to Ruby to chase after her. Weiss watched this, dumbfounded that her partner just left her.

The Schnee Heiress sighed and walked into the tower. Guess she'll have to make the call by herself.

"Penny, wait!" shouted at her friend, continuing to chase after her, descending on a flight of steps. "Where have you been? It's been weeks!"

"There...seems to be a misunderstanding." she responded forcefully, just keeping on walking at a brisk pace.

Luckily, the team leader managed to keep up with her because of the sudden red light. "Penny, please! I'm worried about you. Look, the guys we fought at the docks, we think they may have something big planned, and you just disappeared! Can't you tell me what happened? I'm your friend, aren't I?"

Penny remained silent, glancing around the crowds of people until the stop light turned green. She leaned in to Ruby's ears to whisper something.

"It isn't safe to talk here."

Ruby didn't know what she exactly meant, but gave a nod. The two of them crossed the sidewalk and ventured through the alleyway. To their fortune, there wasn't any people lurking around.

"I wish I could help you, but I really don't know any thing about those men." answered Penny.

"Well, what happened to you that night? One moment you were there, then blam! You're gone. Did you get kidnapped?"

"Oh, no! Nothing like that." she assured her friend. "It's just that, I've never been to another kingdom before, and my father worries about me very much.

Ruby lightly chuckled, reminded of her own dad. "Yeah, I know that feeling. But, why did you run away?

Penny looked down. "I...was told not to talk to you. Or Weiss. Or Yang. Or anybody, really."

The two of them turned a corner with Ruby about to ask another thing, however the sound of a megaphone caught their attention. There, at the plaza, they saw Ironwood projected through a hologram, and some AK-130s standing behind him with equal numbered cases before them.

"The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?"

The gathered audience clapped in agreement, causing the drones to take a jerky bow.

"But... the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and 'fine'... Well, that's just not good enough, is it? Presenting... the Atlesian Knight-200!"

The doors to the cases roll up, and six new, bulkier, shinier automatons stand at attention, knocking down their obsolete predecessors, bringing applause to the watchers.

"Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary. These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone!" Ironwood stopped for dramatic effect, before continuing. "Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require... a human touch."

Oddly, this brought nervousness to Penny, as Ruby stared at the presentation with bright eyes.

" So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce... the Atlesian Paladin!"

Ironwood's image was replaced with the hologram of a robotic white behemoth, featuring hinged piston legs, large guns for hands, and a rectangular head, standing at least twice as tall as the Knights below it.

Ironwood voiced disappointment how they couldn't have them for today, but assured the people they'll be up and ready to defend by the year.

Penny was about to suggest they go somewhere else, when two soldiers by the stage spotted them. One of them pointed at her, while the other seemed to call for back up.

The orange-haired girl booked it, leaving behind Ruby. This snapped her out of her stupor. She saw the soldiers and quickly followed after her, managing to catch up with the eccentric girl.

Ruby used her scythe to slice down the support of a stack of crates, buying them some time as it blocked the path. Seeing an opportunity, she grabbed hold of Penny rocketed and away, disappearing in a flash of rose petals.

Unfortunately, she had underestimated how heavy her friend was, and couldn't handle the strain. It caused her to collapse and fall onto the middle of the street while Penny dropped onto the pavement.

The Rosette slowly pushed herself up, feeling dazed. With her current state, she didn't notice the truck that came from behind at high speeds. The driver tried honking to get her attention but it was far too late.

Penny ran right in front of the car and held out both arms. The truck made contact, and she stopped the vehicle, lifting it up slightly with her surprising strength, the road beneath her crumbling into pieces.

"Are you alright?" Penny asked the driver, whom gave her a nod, amazed.

She slowly put down the truck and saw Ruby's startled and frightened expression. The nearby civilians murmured, clearly talking about what just happened. Penny backed away and resumed running away.

Ruby shook herself out of it and followed after her into an alleyway.

"Wait! Penny! Please! What is going on?! Why are you running? How did you do that?!

Penny looked absolutely nervous almost shaking." I-I can't! Everything's fine! I-I don't want to talk about it!"

She hiccuped for each of her lies. Ruby looked concerned, almost beggingly. "Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I can help you!'

Penny shook her head, stepping back from Ruby." No! No, no! You wouldn't understand..."

"Let me try!" she insisted. "You can trust me!"

The eccentric girl seemed to finally relent, coming up to her face desperately. "You're my friend, right? You promise you're my friend?!"

Ruby nodded, speaking in a soft tone. "I promise."

Penny went silent for a second, before she finally revealed what it was that plagued her. "Ruby... I'm not a real girl."

She opened up her palms, revealing that parts of its skin had been torn off, revealing metal underneath. Ruby looked absolutely confused.

"I-I don't understand..."

"Most girls are born, but I was made." Penny explained, her tone laced with sadness. "I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura. I'm not real..."

Ruby almost immediately took her hand, reassuring her. "Of course you are. You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me?"

"I don't... um... You're... taking this extraordinarily well." she admitted, a bit surprised.

"You're not like those things we saw back there." Ruby tapped her chest, smiling. "You've got a heart, and a soul; I can feel it!"

"Ooohh... oh Ruby! You're the best friend anyone could have!"

Penny was excited and happy, pulling in the Rosette for a very tight hug, shaking her back and forth.

* * *

Yang pressed the breaks on her bike, bringing it to a screeching halt. She took off her helmet, shaking her head lightly to let her hair loose. The blonde gestured to a familiar club, music blaring.

"Come on, the guy's right in there."

She disembarked from her bike to reveal Neptune's face etched into a petrified expression, his hair a mess. He shook his head, composing himself. Sun's partner looked around a bit worriedly.

"Where exactly is...here?"

Junior manned his bar, as usual, watching the ongoing clubbers party out, enjoying the night while it was young. One of his men approached him and leaned in to whisper something.

"Sir, she's back. The you-know-who?"

The club owner sighed, trying to fit away the migraine. "Where is she now?"

"Over there."

The goon pointed to one of the stalls, and Yang was there. But, she was a far cry from years ago. She sat patiently and silently, chatting with her companion. Junior cocked an eyebrow, but otherwise, got off from the bar.

"Stay here, and watch over."

The guy saluted as Junior walked off to go and approach the blonde, beckoning for a few of his men to go and back him up.

Back with Neptune and Yang, the two were looking around the club, trying to spot Junior. But, considering how tightly packed the place was, it was harder than it looks.

"Feels kind of cliché to meet an informant in a club, don't ya think?" commented Neptune.

"It is, but hey. It works, and probably great for business."

"Uh, Yang? I think I found him." called out Neptune. He pointed towards the group of guards following Junior, who calmly walked up to their table. And all of them were visibly armed.

"Blondie, you're here. Why?"

Yang stared at the former criminal for a few short moment before sighing. "I'm here, partly to apologize, and ask for some information. Look, I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have done what I did years ago, and I'm sorry I thrashed your club and crushed your balls. Nero and I buried the hatchet-"

Junior held up his hand, stopping her. He sat at the opposite side and snapped his fingers, telling his men to get them some drinks. The rehabilitated man looked back at Yang and asked her a simple question.

"What kind of information are you looking for, exactly?"

* * *

Blake traced her fingers over three scratch marks on a wall, peeking around its corner and saw a pair of horned Faunus being ushered into a building. Pulling back, she nodded at Sun.

"This is it."

The blond seemed skeptical and Blake glared at him before going towards the entrance and taking off her bow. Sun shrugged and decides just to roll with it.

The two walked inside the building to a hallway filled with cases, seeing another Fang grunt directing the new recruits. The monkey held up the Grimm mask that was handed to him with slight confusion.

"I don't get it. If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"

"The masks are a symbol." Blake answered. "Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters. Originally, they were supposed to resemble demons, but the higher ups thought that even that was too much."

The Belladonna put on the mask, with Sun following suit. They surrounded themselves with the new recruits. Compared to the amount of White Fang soldiers, they severely outnumbered them. The line stopped, when one of the lieutenants stepped up to the stage.

"Thank you all for coming. For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight, allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours! I can assure you, he is the key to obtaining what we have fought for for so long!"

And that was the cue for Torchwick to step into the light. Immediately, most of the new recruits booed at the crime boss, who took it all in stride, being followed by an associate of his, themed after Neopolitan ice cream.

"Thank you, thank you! Hold your applause."

"What's a human doing here?" pointed out the female antler Faunus.

"I'm glad you asked, "Deerie"! Now, I'll be the first to admit, humans... are the worst. Case in point. So, I understand why you would like to see us all locked away, or, better yet, killed!"

"Is he going somewhere with this?" Sun asked to Blake, who just stared attentively.

Roman then continued on. "But, before the claws come out, I'd like to mention the fact that you and I all have a common enemy: the ones in control, the people pulling the strings, the dirty, rotten humans that run our kingdoms!"

His word slowly swayed the crowd, most of them agreeing with him.

"Government, military, even the schools: they're all to blame for your lot in life!" He paused, smirking at the jeers turning into cheers. "And they're all pests that need to be dealt with! Fortunately, I'm the best exterminator around... No offense to any rodents in the room."

With a snap of his fingers, his associate dropped the curtain behind him, revealing the Atlesian Paladin that Ironwood showcased earlier. The Faunus were now all cheers, while Blake and Sun stared at the mecha in shock.

Roman walked up to the giant robot, tapping it. "As some of you may have heard, this right here...is Atlas' newest defense against all the scary things in the world. And thanks to my "employer", we've managed to snag a few before they, uh, 'hit the shelves' ."

Torchwick looked at all them in the eye with a serious expression, slowly pacing around as his speech went on.

"Now, many of your brothers have already moved down to our new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather stay within the city, that's fine... But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?"

A smile graced his lips, the new recruits loudly applauding. Any hostile reaction they had were swept under the rug. Blake and Sun decided it was time to escape, however, the line they were began to move forward, putting them in a predicament.

The Crime Boss smoked a cigar, leaning against the Paladin before he seemed to zero in on the two students.

"He sees us!" whispered Sun, who could only try to play it off by smiling and waving.

This completely tipped off Roman. He flicked away his cigar in anger and slowly approached them. Blake's eyes spotted a junction box and a plan came to mind.

"He can't see in the dark."

Drawing Gambol Shroud, Blake shifted it into its pistol form and shot the box, shutting off the lights in the entire building, giving them a window for escape...which would turn literally.

"Sun! The window!"

"Don't let them get away! Stop them!"

The two of them crashed through the window and start running across the roof tops, until the my heard the sounds of the Atlesian Paladin activating as it promptly crashed through the wall and ran off in pursuit of the two.

Blake and Sun kept on free running on the roof, performing a few tricks and flips as they did so.

"So you wouldn't happen to have... oh, I don't know... some form of backup?!"

Blake nodded, grabbing her Scroll and dialed her teammates as she continued to retreat from Torchwick.

* * *

Weiss stepped away from the Transmit Tower when she received Blake's call.

**"Everyone! If you can hear me, we need back-"**

**"HEEEELLLLP!" **unintentionally cut in Sun.

Weiss rolled her eyes and started heading towards the coordinates, a small smile on her face.

* * *

For some odd reason, Ruby was beside a boarded up dumpster as she listened in on the call with an excited expression.

"Big robot! And it's big, really big!"

* * *

Yang and Neptune were dismayed. Junior had nothing in Torchwick, but at least they got a free drink on the house. The two boarded the blonde's motorcycle as Sun kept on.

"That Torchwick guy is in it! But not, like, it didn't eat him; he's, like, controlling it or something!"

"Where are you guys?"

As if on cue, Blake and Sun ran through the street behind them, the Atlesian Paladin still in hot pursuit. The latter saw them and waved his arms.

"HURRRRRY!"

Yang wasted no time, putting away her Scroll and circled around her bike, alarming Neptune as she chased after the large mecha.

Blake and Sun somehow managed to get to the highways, jumping down into the busy street and continued their escape, escape hopping from car to car. The Paladin followed pushing the vechiles out of its path, causing Sun to pause before jumping onto another car before Torchwick could reach him.

Yang and Neptune were able to keep up with the mecha, driving by it as continued to chase after the two Faunus.

"We've gotta slow it down!" voiced out Yang.

Neptune nodded, reaching for his gun. However, Roman noticed the pair on his sensors and purposefully crashed into a number of cars, sending them flying towards his pursuers.

The Blonde Bombshell tightly gripped the handles, telling Neptune to hold on. Yang swerved and leaned her bike to the side a posing the cars that crashed at them while Neptune flailed around. Luckily, he managed to compose himself and grab his weapon. The Haven student took aim as it sparked, firing several bolts of blue electricity at the Paladin, causing Roman to grimace from the force of the attacks.

Switching tactics, Neptune flipped his gun and it turned into a trident-like form. He jumped off from Yang's bike then jammed it into the mech suit. Sun and Blake paused in their car-hopping to look back, the former shouting out to his partner.

"Neptune, hang on!"

He tried his best, but the mech kept on bucking and swaying around. Sun focused and slammed his palms together, using his Semblance. He created two golden Aura outlines of himself, which both collided with the Paladin's front. They exploded into blinding light, letting Sun go forward with his gun-chucks held high.

Torchwick grunted managed to get Neptune off of him and knocked the blue-haired student into his leader, sending both of them off the highway. Blake saw this from her spot, and heard Weiss's voice from her Scroll.

**"Blake, I'm in position!"**

The Schnee Heiress twirled over a highway and landed right in the middle of the road. She held up Myrtenaster as the criminal came into view. Torchwick grinned and charged forward, intending on making her a smear in the ground.

Weiss smirked and plunged her rapier into the road, casting a Glyph that spread the ice across the pavement, causing the Paladain to slip and crash. It actually flew over the students, falling off of the highway and right in front of Ruby, who stood at the ready with Crescent Rose out in its scythe form.

The giant mecha stood back as the rest of Team RWBY fell behind their leader. Torchwick chuckled and slowly moved towards the girls.

"Freezerburn!" ordered Ruby.

Her and Blake jumped out of the way as Weiss performed the same ice-circle trick. She moved out of Yang's way as she jumped into the air and blasted the center with her Ember Celica, creating a wave of mist that blinded Roman.

He activated the Paladin's its laser sensors to look around, scanning his surroundings. Grunting in irritation, he fired off its gun, narrowly missing the girls and almost struck Blake and Yang. Ruby emerged from out of the blast and slashed at the giant robot, giving out her next order.

"Checkmate!"

Blake and Weiss charged forward and struck at its legs. The latter jumped up and stabbed one of the sensors, before hopping off a Glyph. Torchwick growled and moved to crush Blake with the Paladin's foot, but had been launched back by another Glyph that materialized below.

The dapper criminal grew annoyed and fired off the missiles. However, both Huntresses managed to avoid each and everyone, Blake with her natural flexibility and agility while Weiss enhanced herself with her Glyph.

Unfortunately, she jumped a bit too high, giving Roman a clear shot and fired off a double energy blast, knocking her back. Weiss cast a yellow Glyph under Blake before she was fully thrown away.

The cat Faunus slowly stood up, feeling herself lighter and faster. Tightly gripping Gambol Shroud, Blake released a flurry of energy slashes at the remaining missiles in super speed, slicing them to bits, causing them to explode.

"Ladybug!" called put Ruby, running back into the fray.

She shot herself forward and struck the robot's legs, Blake redirecting herself to follow suit. They dashed forward circled around the Paladin, striking its legs with each passing, bringing confusion to Roman. Roman. The two of them launched themselves into the air and sliced off the elft arm as they descended.

With it distracted, Yang jumped onto the mecha and started pummeling it, powered up with her shotgun blasts. This knocked around Roman in the cockpit. He narrowed his eyes. He couldn't quite reach her with the remaining arm but he already had a better idea in mind.

Pulling down the levers, he dashed backward through two columns and embedded Yang right into a third one. The criminal backed up the Paladin and spun it around, extending its fist and punched through it.

"Yang!" worriedly called out Blake, when her partner didn't seem to move.

"Don't worry!" Ruby assures her teammate. "Remember her Semblance. With every hit, she gets stronger and uses the energy to fight back!"

Slowly, Yang got up onto her feet, a large grin on her face as her golden locks burned a brilliant white. Torchwick threw another punch, but found it caught by Yang, the ground beneath her cracking under pressure. Eyes red, grinning wildly, she smashed the last arm and obliterated it.

The Crime Boss grew desperate and kicked her over teammates. However.

"Bumblebee!"

Blake threw Gambol Shroud out for Yang to catch. With the provided momentum, she used it to to swing around her partner for a final hit. However, Roman dodged it by jumping back.

Ruby realized something. "We have to slow it down!"

"And how do you propose we do that?" posed Weiss.

The Rosette smirked, nodding at her partner. "Ice Flower!"

The two of them twirled around their weapons and pointed them at the Paladin. Weiss cast a series of Glyphs in front of Ruby's sniper, powering up the weapon. With a pull of a trigger, dazzling spiral energy burst through and created large icicles on the mecha as it struck.

Ruby kept on shooting covering the Paladin in ice, freezing it in place. Blake kept on swinging her partner to build up more momentum, Yang blasting herself up with Emeber Celica to help. With one last round, she punched the giant robot and it crashed into broken parts.

Roman grunted in annoyance, a bit dazed from the attack. The ginger-haired dapper man pushed himself off as he brushed off the dust on his clothes.

"Just got this thing cleaned..." he complained.

With him distracted and defenseless, Yang fired off another blast, still powered up by her Semblance. At the very last second, his cohort from earlier dropped down and opened up her parasol, blocking the attack. She stared at the girls with her heterochromic eyes, smirking as she hung her weapon on her shoulder. Torchwick nodded at his partner and addressed the victors.

"Ladies. Ice Queen..."

"Hey!" indignantly shouted Weiss, offended.

"Always a pleasure." he mockingly continued. "Neo, if you would."

Neo gave them a graceful but mocking bow. Yang, however, was having none of it. She charged forward and struck the outlaws...only for them to suddenly shatter like glass. She looked up and saw an escaping Bullhead with the two on board. The rest ran up to her side and watched as the criminals disappeared.

"Well...guess he got a new henchman."

"Yeah, I guess she really made our plans... fall apart!" joked Weiss.

The Schnee Heiress had a cheeky smile on her face when she said that. Ruby giggled, Blake walked away while Yang just shook her head at the attempt.

"No. Just... no."

"What- But, you do it!" she complained.

"There's a time and a place for jokes."

"Was this not it?"

"No, it just wasn't very good." Yang said as she followed after her partner.

Weiss huffed in indignation but walked with them still. On top of one of the highways, team JNPR and Lady watched as the girls discussed among themselves while they got back on the road.

"I guess I see why you've taken such an interest in them." spoke up Lady. "They got potential, I'll give you that."

"Yep." said Jaune. "They're a cut above the rest of the first years. Just a bit more grinding and polishing, and they can shine even brighter."

Lady nodded at that. A smirk crossed the Walking Arsenal's lips, getting on her bike. "This is gonna be an interesting job."

"Don't we know it."

Jaune got onto his, with Pyrrha riding back, the same for Ren and Nora. The three of the revved their motorcycles a bit, building up some speed as they put in their helmets.

"We can talk some more at this noodle place that Luna and I found. Trust me, it's really good, and cheap too."

* * *

**Omake: ****Cranky Over Caramel Chocolate **

Team JNPR was greeted with the cold breeze of the convenience store's air condition, their leader looking a tad bit peeved.

"Guys, you know you don't have to come with. I can find Chocramel Bites by myself. We'll just meet back at the park."

Pyrrha shook her head. "We don't mind Jaune. It's still a bit early. We can grab some snacks while we're here."

"The pantry back at our dorm is getting a bit empty." voiced out Ren.

"Seriously. How weird is it that we went through twelve straight stores and none of them had any Chocramel Bites." pointed out Nora.

Jaune grumbled under his breath at how right she was. It was incredibly ridiculous. He hasn't had any of his favorite snack in a month, and he wanted one. Now. The four of them dispersed to different aisles to get what they wanted.

Ren went to the canned goods section. Pyrrha approached the food aisle. Nora went to grab drinks. And Jaune looked around the snack section.

The blond grumbled, eyeing every product as he tried to find his favorite brand of candy. He mildly noted the door open and glanced over to see a human walk in. Didn't seem suspicious, though he looked a bit nervous. Nonetheless, he ignored him and went back to scouring.

His eyes lit up in child-like glee when he spotted the familiar packaging. And there was only one left of it too!

"Score." he grinned.

He snatched it out of the shelf and went to the counter, placing down the snack. The owner, an old man, who also manned the counter, gave the blond a curt nod as he went to scan the product.

"Is that all, young man? Need anything else?"

Jaune shot him a smile. "Nah. I'm just waiting on my friends. They're grabbing some stuff too. Thanks for ask-" He paused, feeling something poke his head, looking over to see a gun being pressed against him. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Move it, kiddo!"

The criminal shoved aside Jaune. Well, more like nudged him to the side, irritation crawling up to mask his face.

"And you, old man! Fill this up!"

The robber drew up a case and slammed it onto the counter. Jaune felt something snap, hearing the sounds of his snack being pulverized underneath the damned thing.

The idiot trying to rob a convenience store in broad daylight turned back to Jaune, keeping his gun trained at the owner.

"Don't move, or I'll shoot!"

"Come on, son, you don't want to do this." pleaded the old man, trying to dissuade him. "This isn't worth it. Just put away the gun and leave, please."

"Put a sock on it, old timer!" yelled the robber. "Empty the damned register, or I'm shooting this fucking pretty boy!"

Jaune kept his cool, telling himself not to bother. His friends had probably been alerted and were already contacting the cops.

"Son, don't!"

"Then go ahead and do it, gramps! Or I'm shooting this damned twink!"

Third strike, and he's out. He'd been peeved about discovering that there weren't any of his snack in the previous stores. He's cranky that all his efforts were for naught when his snacks were crushed. And now he's livid because the robber pretty much just called him gay.

"I...went through twelve other stores to look for that brand of chocolate. I was lucky that this store had one left ...and you just crushed it!"

"Are you blind or something? I have a gun!"

Jaune scoffed. "Oh I'm so scared."

The robber growled in anger and went to pull the trigger. The cambion snatched the gun out of his hand and field strips it. Before the man could even react, he used the disassembled parts and beat him into submission. For good measure, he lifted him up and threw him through the window.

Slowly, the anger in him melted away as his friends came to the counter, Pyrrha holding her Scroll.

"Police are on their way." She placed a hand on his shoulders, giving him a comforting pat. "I'm sorry, Jaune."

"It's fine." he sighed. He turned to the owner with an apologetic look. "Sorry about the window."

"Son, you just saved my life, and my only source of income. A window is nothing compared to that. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

The blond could only stare sad and longingly at the crushed pack of Chocramel Bites, giving the owner an idea. He excuses himself for a moment before coming back with an entire box filed with the packs.

"Here. It's all yours. And the rest of your purchases are on the house too."

Team JNPR looked at the owner in shock. "What? Sir, this isn't-"

"It's the least I can do." he insisted. "Like I said, you saved my life, and my only livelihood."

Jaune looked hesitant to accept. Looking at his friends, they smiled, urging him to take it. The blond shook his head, chuckling under his breath.

The team walked out of the store, carrying their purchases as they saw the robber be shoved into the cop's cruiser. They're definitely going to mark that convenience store as their go-to one whenever they needed something.

**

* * *

**

**The omake is based on a fic in AO3 titled 'Human Concerns'. After I saw it, I just couldn't help myself.**

**This took longer than expected. I was pretty bummed out by some personal news, until I managed to get a jump on my step and finish this chapter. I really should stop writing chapters this long...**

**Nothing else to really add in this A/N. As always, review if you have any sort of questions. Keep yourself safe and sanitized.**

**Peace out. **


	28. Dance Dance Infiltration

With a loud roar, Pyrrha slammed Cardin onto the ground harshly, causing a buzzer to go off. It was Combat Class and she had just fought team CRDL 4v1. It was honestly pathetic how easy she beat them.

Goodwitch sauntered over to the arena, announcing the end of the match. Cardin groaned, mumbling how she got a lucky shot in before falling unconscious, his teammates dragging him out of the ring.

"Excellent performance, Ms. Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."

Pyrrha bowed, thanking her professor. Goodwitch turned back to the class, stating that there was more time for one last sparring match. Her eyes fell onto Blake, who wasn't even paying attention and seemed to be more interested in her book.

"Ms. Belladonna?" Upon hearing her name, she slammed her book shut and stared at her teacher wide-eyed. "You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you..."

"I'll do it." volunteered someone.

Goodwitch turned to the left and saw Mercury raise his hand. Adjusting her glasses, she nodded.

"Mercury, is it? Very well, let's find you an opponent."

"Actually," cut in Mercury, pointing right at Pyrrha. "I wanna fight her."

The redhead cocked an eyebrow, but remained silent. Goodwitch shook her head, recommending the gray-haired boy to pick another fight since Pyrrha had just recently fought.

"No, it's fine, Professor." insisted the Hoplite, twirling around her weapons in anticipation. "I'd be happy to oblige."

Mercury stepped down from the stands and walked into the arena. The two sized up each other, waiting for one to make a move. Mercury charged forward and went for a kick. Pyrrha blocked the attack and swept his other leg.

He fell into his back but quickly recovered into a hand-spring. Pyrrha initiated the second attack, tossing her shield at him. Mercury spin kicked it away, and barely defended himself against Pyrrha's leaping overhead slash. He managed to get the upper hand, barraging the redhead with a flurry of kicks.

The Invincible Girl blocked his attacks, all coming out at a rather fast pace. She saw an opening and deflected one of his kicks, leading up to a roundhouse kick, pushing him back.

Mercury planted down his foot, skidding to a stop. He tilted his head, a bit impressed at the girl's skills. Jumping into the air, he descended down with a spin, for a dive kick. Pyrrha flipped back to dodge, landing near her shield.

The gray-haired male grunted and kicked, cocking his weapon - gun-boots. He unleashed a series of kicks, shooting out silver blasts at at redhead. Pyrrha blocked the first few with her shield before weaving around the remaining shots.

He dashed in and constantly attacked her with kicks. However, she managed to block each one with her shield with continued effort. Moving to relatiate, Pyrrha turned her javelin into its xiphos form and struck.

She batted away his kicks, the two of them trading blows. Once more, Mercury managed to get the upper hand and kicked the shield from off her grasp. He went in for a second attack, only to find himself spinning around with a stumble. Before he could realize what was going on, Pyrrha retrieved her shield and flung it towards his head, making it bounce. Kicking herself up, she spun around mid-air and kicked it back, slamming it into his chest.

Mercury rolled and righted himself into a kneeling position, a thoughtful expression on his face. He ran forward and engaged her in another close-ranged battle. Once more, he got the jump on Pyrrha and disarmed her of her weapons.

Smirking, as if victory was assured, Mercury raised his leg for a devastating spin kick. At the very last second, Pyrrha activated her Semblance and repelled away his boots, causing him to stumble. A look of realization lit up his face, making him chuckle.

Looking up, he saw Pyrrha charging at him, having retrieved her weapons. He kicked himself onto her shield and propelled himself away with a bullet blast, spinning into a kneeling position. The redhead smirked, starting to enjoy the fight. However, just as she was about to attack, Mercury turned away, his smug smile unseen.

"I forfeit." he casually conceded.

"You don't want to even try?" Pyrrha asked, irritation clear on her tone.

Mercury just shrugged. "You're the four-time champion. We're pretty much leagues apart."

"In that case, Pyrrha Nikos is the victor of the match...again."

Pyrrha hid her growl, clutching her weapons tighter to alleviate her anger. The screen then flashed, changing Mercury's Aura levels from green to red to indicate his loss.

"Next time, you may want to think a little harder before choosing an opponent." Goodwitch lectured him.

"I'll be sure to do that."

With the fight over, the alarm sounded off to signal the end of the class. This jolted Blake awake, who had started sleeping, dark circles under her eyes

"That is all for today." announced Goodwitch. "And remember, the dance is this weekend. But you all have your first mission on Monday. I will not accept any excuses."

The students slowly filed out of the door. Jaune jogged up to his girlfriend, having sensed her earlier vexation. "Hey, you alright?"

"I'm fine." she insisted through gritted teeth.

Jaune was about to drag her back to their dorm, but couldn't help but overhear Blake snapping at Sun, stomping away and left her friends behind. He figured to not get himself involved, and that they didn't need his interference. The blond turned back to his girlfriend, only to find that she had disappeared.

"Well, there goes that plan..." he sighed, slumping a bit. Until he had a hunch where she was heading. Jaune quickly ran off to the where that location is.

* * *

"You what?!" screamed Blake.

She and her team were back at their dorm, all three of them looking at her with nothing but concern.

"We want you to go to the dance." repeated Ruby.

Blake shook her head, declaring it ridiculous. Yang just expressed their concern, how the investigation's messing with her head. Weiss, trying to help her see reason, counted down the facts.

"You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest, your grades have been suffering."

At this point, Blake seemed to blow up. The arguments went back and forth, the cat Faunus using every excuse to try and not be a part of the dance while her team did their best to convince her to stay, wind down, and relax. Unfortunately, Blake could not be dissuaded and stormed off to the library.

* * *

Jaune stared at the door that led to one of the new training facilities - the simulation chamber. Or as Lady liked to call it 'the Discount Void'. It's where the Demon Hunting classes was gonna take place. While it worked properly, it still needed some tuning up because the demons it would spawn in, well... Had they been real, most of the students would've been slaughtered.

He gently pushed open the door and, to his correct suspicion, saw Pyrrha. The red-haired Hoplite was facing off against a pair of Bianco Angelos surrounded by a couple of scattered pieces that belonged to other Bianco Angelos and dispersing corpses of Scarecrows. Jaune felt a bit apprehensive, but made no move to interfere and contented himself to watch.

The artificial demons charged in at Pyrrha, lunging at her with their lances. She crossed Milo with their weapons and managed to threw them off balance. The Invincible Girl delivered a swift kick to one, using it to launch herself at the other and struck with it with a revolution slash.

She jumped back into a flip, avoiding their sudden upward strikes. The Angelos went stationary and charged up their lances, giving Pyrrha an ample opportunity. She rushed in and jumped over them and started attacking their defenseless backs.

The Demons of the Order didn't take kindly to do this and suddenly swerved around, deflecting her attacks with their shield. This left her momentarily vulnerable, allowing them to a simple bash into stab motion.

Pyrrha forced herself to skid to a stop, glaring at the angel-looking monsters. Once more, the two charged up their lances and rushed in to attack. With no audience to watch, she could freely use her trump card.

The Tournament Champion forced the Biancos to their knees with her Semblance, halting them of movement. Using her other hand, she ripped their lances out of their grasps and jammed it into their chest.

Unfortunately, this didn't quite kill them. Pyrrha released her hold, lest she wasted anymore of her Aura. The artificial demons wrenched their weapons from out of their bodies and merely revved up its propulsions.

Vulnerable once again, Pyrrha charged in to strike. She swung her xiphos at the two, hitting their shields twice before twirling back and whacking them with its javelin form. It didn't put a dent on them, however. She tried again, but this time, it made her stagger back.

Once again, the two demons bashed with their shield then struck her with a lunging stab that pushed the redhead back by a considerable amount. Pyrrha chuckled, calling upon the usage of her Semblance once more. This time, she targeted their shields, prying them off of their hands and tossed them aside.

The Angelos weren't pleased and went after her. Pyrrha grunted as she blocked their lances, forcing her into a kneeling position with their surprising strength. Mustering her own, she bashed them off and butterfly kicked them away. Spinning around in recovery, she flung Akuou at one of the Biancos.

The shield was embedded into its face, robbing it of its sight as it wildly swung around its Lance. Pyrrha roughly pulled the shield out with her Polarity and shield bashed it, quickly following it up with a rising slash. Spinning around, she dove down and jabbed her javelin into its head and extinguished its life.

The redheaded Hoplite rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the remaining Bianco Angelo. Revving up its lance, it charged forward, doing an EX Streak attack. Pyrrha raised up her shield and defended herself against the attack, sliding back by a few feet.

Before she could recover, the Demon of the Order rocketed towards her and launched her into the air, before flying after her and slammed her back into the ground. Raising up its weapon, it tried to impale her. Once more, she used her Semblance and redirected its motion to stab the floor instead.

With the Bianco distracted, Pyrrha retrieved Akuou and bashed it into the demon's face before shoving it off. Taking hold of its lance, she charged with a loud war cry and rammed it into its stomach. Summoning all of her strength, she lifted it up and leaped into the sky before crashing it down, causing the sentient armor to shatter into pieces.

Pyrrha caught her breath before pushing herself up, wiping the sweat that dropped down her face as the computer's voice came ringing.

**"SIMULATION COMPLETE."**

The remains of the Angelos dispersed into a series of codes as the arena around her turned back into its virtual-like appearance. A screen popped up in her face, detailing a score of her performance. She lightly frowned, almost pouting.

"Oh man. I only got a B-rank?"

"A B-rank? I'd say that's good."

Pyrrha turned around and saw Jaune walking up to her.

"So, you feeling any better now?"

She nodded, placing her weapons into her back. "Yeah. I worked up quite a sweat, so I'd say I'm alright. But I still wished I managed a higher ranking."

The blond smiled softly at his girlfriend, placing his Devil Bringer over her shoulder. "Considering the fact that this thing's stuck on the Must Die mode? Getting a B is amazing on its own, Pyr. Hell, I can only manage an A, and I fought these things before. Just because you aren't the same as us means you can sell yourself short. There is a reason why you won four times in the Mistral Region Tournament."

Pulling back, he summoned up the holo-pad and inputted a command, bringing them back to the earlier arena. Pyrrha was curious as to what her best friend had planned. She was most definitely surprised when she caught a certain ice Devil Arm in her hands.

"You're letting me use Fenris?" she asked curiously.

Jaune called out Yamato, running his hand through his hair. "Why not? He liked you as a pup, and I'm pretty sure he still does. And besides, I want to let you feel the power of a Devil Arm."

Pyrrha stared down at the katana and felt as if it spoke to her. Gently gripping its handle, she felt a glimmer of cold energy radiate from within, as if calling out to her. She drew out the blade and made a few practice motions with it, based off of what she saw Jaune perform.

The cambion chuckled in amusement before calling attention to his girlfriend.

"Your stance is a bit loose. Your guard's also wide open." Lifting up his father's blade, he flicked up her handle and smirked. "How about I teach you how to really pull them off?"

Pyrrha could only smirk back. Jaune slowly slipped into a stance, which she copied. The two stared at each other before charging with a loud cry.

* * *

Cinder was in her dorm room, sewing a black dress with her cohorts near-by. Emerald sat on the floor, looking through her Scroll, while Mercury laid on the ground and read the comic book he snatched from Tulson's. The three of them were discussing possible threats to their plans.

Soon, they got to Pyrrha.

"Ah, the Invincible Girl." Cinder recalled.

"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible." voiced out Mercury.

Cinder grew curious, urging them to say more.

"Her Semblance is Polarity. But you'd never know just by watching." answered Emerald.

Mercury put aside his comic and explained it a bit further in detail. "After she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted. But she only made slight adjustments."

Emerald then continued. "Just enough to make it look like she's untouchable. She doesn't broadcast her power, so it puts her opponent at a disadvantage."

The femme fatal smirked, almost approvingly. "Hmm... People assume that she's fated for victory, when she's really taking fate into her own hands. Interesting. Add her to the list."

Emerald obeyed obediently, before speaking up. "We have three more potential targets. First up is Nora Valkyrie. She may look harmless, but trust me when she isn't. I poked around and saw her lifting over three thousand tons in terms of weight. Not to mention, she seems to be an expert regarding explosions. She may be a bit of nuisance, but nothing we can't possibly handle."

"A powerhouse in such a short package. And not many can master explosives. We can never be too unsure. Add her to the list, just in case. Who's next?"

"Ren Redgrave."

Mercury sat up, eyes widening. "Wait. Did you just say Redgrave?!"

Cinder quirked an eyebrow, motioning for her lackey to continue on. "Anything interesting to discuss, Mercury?"

"Something my old man told me. In a place called Bobby's Cellar, he met a fellow mercenary named Tony Redgrave. And he told me, that if I ever meet someone with that name, I'd run. That guy would take on any of the most dangerous missions offered...and come back unscathed. He took them like it was nothing. Like he was some sort of demon. And if that Ren is related to him, we may have a problem."

"Not to mention his powers." cut in Emerald. "His Semblance seemed to be some form of Aerokinesis, allowing him to use wind as deadly projectiles. He's no slouch with hand-to-hand, said to be quick as lightning."

"The possible son of a mercenary with an extraordinary power to manipulate wind..." Cinder seemed to grin in what seemed to be amusement. "Very well, add him as well. Who's the last one?"

"Jaune Arc." This time, it was Mercury who took the stage. "We didn't get a lot of info about him, but we do have some footage from the school that, well... You should see to believe."

Fishing out his own Scroll, he pulled out the video that detailed Jaune's absolute curbstomp against Cardin. Cinder felt a pit of concern form in her stomach as she watched the blond perfectly guard against the projectiles that the Winchester summoned. And beat him in two hits.

The False Maiden was worried. Jaune could block both physical and projectile attacks made of Dust. Could he possibly defend against her Maiden powers?... No, that's absurd. Nothing was above that, besides her master and possibly the demons.

"Like with the others, better safe than sorry, add him to the list." she ordered.

Emerald did as she was told, with Mercury trying to convince himself. "You should be able to handle them no problem."

"It's not about overpowering the enemy." Cinder clarified. "It's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time." A cruel smile crossed her lips.

Mercury groaned, laying back down. "I hate waiting."

"Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us." she assured him as she picked back up her sewing needle.

* * *

Blake made good on her promise, holing herself up in the library as she continued to work on the investigation. At this point, she was pretty much running on fumes. She could barely even concentrate, but she didn't care. Her only focus was on the screen... Until a bright, red dot appeared, moving up and down.

Her inner cat instincts told her to follow its movement before it promptly disappeared. Looking behind her, no one had a laser pointer. As she prepared to get back to work, it re-appeared. Blake sighed and forced herself out of the chair, following the dot.

It didn't take long for her to start bumping into stuff due to her sleep-deprivation. Turning to a corner, the dot disappeared and Blake's met face-to-face with her partner. Before the Belladonna could even ask, Yang whisked her away to an empty classroom.

"Yang, if you're going to tell me to stop, you may as well save your breath."

The blonde sat down on the classroom's desk, sighing. "I don't want you to stop; I want you to slow down."

Blake scowled, crossing her arms in irritation. "I don't have the luxury to slow down."

"It's not a luxury; it's a necessity." clarified the blonde.

"The "necessity" is stopping Torchwick." stressed the Faunus.

" And we're going to." she assured. "But first you have to sit down and listen to what I have to say." Yang patted the desk across from her.

Blake sighed and relented, draping her legs over the desk's edge.

Yang closed her eyes and told her tale. "Ruby and I grew up in Patch, an island off the coast of Vale. Our parents were Huntsmen. Our dad taught at Signal, and our mom took on missions around the kingdom. Her name was Summer Rose, and she was, like... Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters. And then... one day she left for a mission and never came back."

Yang looked down, still absolutely distraught, gaining her some sympathy from Blake.

"It was tough." she continued. "Ruby was really torn up, but... I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, y'know? And my dad just kind of... shut down. It wasn't long before I learned why. Summer wasn't the first love he lost; she was the second. The first... was my mom."

Blake looked amazed and surprised, but Yang didn't let this stop her and continued.

"He wouldn't tell me everything, but I learned that the two of them had been on a team together with Summer and my uncle, and that she'd left me with him right after I was born. No one had seen her since."

"Why did she leave you?" asked Blake.

Yang: sighed, turning to he chalkboard. "That question... Why? I didn't know an answer, but I was determined to find out. It was all I thought about. I would ask anyone I could about what they knew about her."

Then, she began to recount the time that she managed to find a clue. Something that could possibly give her answers, or even her mother... That ended up being nothing but a near-death experience for both her and Ruby. Had it not been for the timely arrival of her uncle, they would've been dead.

"My stubbornness should've gotten us killed that night." she finished.

"Yang... I'm sorry that happened to you, and I understand what you're trying to tell me, but this is different." Blake argued, trying to remain firm on her decision. "I'm not a child, and this isn't just a search for answers! I can't just-"

Yang clenched her fists tightly but didn't face her partner. "I told you: I'm not telling you to stop! I haven't! To this day, I still want to know what happened to my mother and why she left me, but I will never let that search control me. We're going to find the answers we're looking for, Blake. But if we destroy ourselves in the process, what good are we?"

Blake was undeterred still. "You don't understand! I'm the only one who can do this!"

"Are you implying that the Huntsmen are complacent and incompetent?"

Yang and Blake froze as a sharp blade suddenly hovered over the latter's throat quite dangerously. Behind them was Luna, casually holding out Tsukuyomi as her eyes were buried in a book.

"Professor Arc!" exclaimed Yang in surprise. "W-when did you get here?" w

Seeing that she had their attention, she shut the book and drew back her weapon. "About twenty minutes ago. You two weren't exactly conspicuous. Now, you haven't answered my question, Ms. Belladonna. Are you calling us pathetic?"

With how deprived she was, Blake said something she'd probably regret. "Yes! If you weren't, then Torchwick and the White Fang would've been already dealt with by now!"

"And who so you think qualifies? Yourself?" The Daughter of Vergil scoffed. "Hardly. Not even Yang heard me enter the room until I made myself known. What makes you think you can? Go ahead, try to hit me."

The cat Faunus glared at the Huntress and sloppily threw a right hook. Luna easily caught her wrist and twisted her arm around, forcing her into a choke hold. Yang was about to move in until her fellow blonde gave her a look that she seemed to placate her.

"Had I been anyone else, your head would be rolling on the ground. You can't even fight back. You're just a defenseless kitten. So why don't you do yourself a favor, and get some rest."

Luna harshly released Blake from her hold, pushing her into Yang's direction. The Daughter of the Dark Slayer turned to leave, but not before glancing back at the Faunus.

"I don't know you quite well, Blake, but Eve is someone I can consider a close friend. I'm just as worried and confused as you are. Listen to your partner, get some sleep."

With her piece said, Luna walked out, leaving the partners alone. Yang checked over her friend, making sure she wasn't hurt. Blake stared at the floor, eyes slowly widening in realization.

"I've been acting horrible, haven't I?" she muttered.

Yang could only nod as the Belladonna leaned against her, practically losing what will that kept her running. "Yeah, but you can still patch up. You just gotta remember, we're not just your team were your friends too, Blake." she softly reminded. "We'll always have your back. Having fun doesn't mean we're not taking it seriously, we're just trying to wind down and not break from stress. Now come on. Your bed's calling for you."

Blake smiled, thanking whatever deity resided above that led her to meet such great people.

* * *

The days passed, and the night of the dance was before them. Everything was lively, buzzing with energy. Every student was having fun, either talking with their friend, dancing with a partner, or just drinking some of the punch. The faculty was scattered around, having fun on their own accord.

Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck were having a conversation, wherein the latter was telling a joke that the former laughed at. Professor Goodwitch was dancing with General Ironwood, the two of them having smiles on their faces. Ozpin chuckled at the pair, smiling as well.

Lady was up on the balcony, leaning against the railing as she watched the students have fun. Luna approached from the left, handing her a glass of punch. The two devil hunter made idle chatter as they kept a look out for anything suspicious.

Ruby stared at the dancing crowd, absolutely bored out of her mind. She was by the punch bowl, steadily drinking a vast amount of punch. She decided to just stand there in the corner and make herself scarce. The Rosette smiled, seeing her sister dance with Blake before passing her up to Sun. Weiss was somewhere around and Team JNPR had yet to arrive.

Yet again, she sighed, having nothing to do. Even now, she was still the socially awkward, weapon-loving girl that at the very beginning of the semester. That, and she felt very uncomfortable in the dress and heels.

"Not enjoying yourself?"

Ruby was surprised to see the headmaster step up by her side. She shook her head, laughing. "Oh, no, everything's fine! I'm just not much of a fancy pantsy... dancey girl." she admitted.

"Well, you can't spend your whole life on the battlefield, even if you may want to." pointed out Ozpin.

The Rosette crossed her arms, looking annoyed, mumbling something under her breath. The headmaster smiled, staring back at the crowd.

"If you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't so different. Two partners interlocked, although one wrong move on the ballroom merely leads to a swollen foot."

"Or a twisted ankle." Ruby grumbled, looking at her own feet.

Ozpin looked back at the young girl. "It's not every day that friends are able to come together like this. Time has a way of testing our bonds, but it's nights like these that can help keep them stronger than ever. Nights like these are ones we'll never forget."

Ruby seemed grateful for the words of wisdom. She turned her head at the sound of the doors opening, with Yang greeting the newcomers that had just arrived.

"You guys are just in time!"

Mercury and Emerald 'smiled' at the blonde, heading for the crowd. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Yang nodded in agreement, telling them to have fun. Just as the two left, more newcomers arrived. The Blonde Bombshell whistled in appreciation as team JNPR walked in.

"Damn, well aren't you guys dressed to impress?"

Jaune and Pyrrha wore the same things that they had on during the Schnee Charity Event some months ago, looking stylish as ever. Ren's outfit looked almost similar to his cousin's but his jacket was a deep forest green, instead. His hair was neatly combed, let loose from its usual ponytail. Nora had on a strapless white dress, with the seams in her chest resembling a big heart and a bit of lipstick.

Jaune chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Honestly, we didn't have anything else. But hey, it's supposed to be a long and fun night, so why not dress appropriately for the occasion."

Yang could only nod in agreement and let her friends in. The two pairs broke away, with Nora dragging her boyfriend to the dance floor while Pyrrha and Jaune went to go sit at one of the vacant tables. Like a gentleman, he pulled back his lady's chair for her, making Pyrrha giggle as he pushed it back once she was seated.

"I'm gonna go grab us some punch. Be right back." Jaune said.

The blond walked up the punch bowl and raised an eyebrow once he saw Ruby awkwardly standing there. "Hey, Rubes. Hiding by the punch bowl?"

She looked up, blinked and did a once over of her friend. "Jaune! You look, um... You look..."

"I'll take that as a compliment." the devil hunter said, lightly chuckling as he poured himself and his date some punch. "So, why are you here? Why not mingle with the others or dance?"

"Are you kidding me? These heels are killing me!" she complained with complete exaggeration. "Seriously, how does Weiss even fight in these? I'd have a bigger chance of stepping on someone."

"Well, there's mine and Pyrrha's table. You can come and talk with us, if you want." Jaune dropped as he left behind the Rosette.

The young girl looked at her first friend, considering his offer and took a sip from her cup.

* * *

"Anything interesting happen yet?" asked Lady, drinking her punch.

"Aside from a few student fail to try and spike the punch, nothing noteworthy, I'm afraid." Luna informed, continuously scanning the crowd for suspicious activity, while simultaneously reading her book. "By the way, is he-?"

"Yep." putting emphasis on the 'p'. "He just arrived in Vale. In about a week, at most, we might be able to finally start our classes."

Luna nodded, thanking her fellow devil hunter. She looked up and went back to reading before doing a double take. Making sure at what she's seeing is right, she closed her book, obviously grabbing Lady's attention.

"What? Something happen?"

A shrewd smirk crossed the cambion's lips, motioning at something. "You could say that."

The DJ was unsuspecting of the flying piece of bread stick, so stale, it would knock him out. The baked good struck him directly on the head, knocking him out for a possible good minutes or so, falling right on the music system. Coincidentally, it also changed the current song.

**"Baby, it's time to make up your mind!"**

Jaune and Pyrrha were chatting with Ruby when the new song came up. The couple stopped talking and perked up, a grin on their faces. The two made eye contact with Ren and Nora, who had similar expressions on their faces.

Without so much as a word, the two departed from their table and quickly took over the dance floor. The crowd parted away and watched as Team JNPR moved together in perfect synchronization. Everyone cheered as they stared at the scene in pure amazement, getting them in the mood to start actually dancing.

Unbeknownst to them, Emerald and Mercury stood at one of the upper-tiers, secretly talking to Cinder. With any every distracted and into dancing, the former gave her mistress the go-ahead.

* * *

Cinder ducked behind a row of bushes, narrowing her eyes as she watched the guard look away from the stairs. Quickly taking the opportunity, she made made a mad dash to get to the other side. However, the guard noticed this and steadily approached to investigate.

But Cinder was quicker, already right behind the soldier. She chopped on his neck, rendering him unconscious. Cinder caught the soldier and dragged him away, right before throwing him into the shrubbery.

"Hey!"

The masked female spun around and was met with yet another guard, his gun out and aimed right at her. Cinder grunted and rushed at the man. The guard pulled the trigger three times, yet each one was evaded. Cinder swiped the gun away and elbowed the main straight in the gut, right before drop kicking him, knocking the poor guy out.

With no one else to interrupt, she strolled right in the building. Unknown to her, however, someone had witnessed it. The figure chuckled and pushed his glasses as it gleamed brightly.

Cinder sauntered right in, not even bothering to hide as she saw four guards patrolling the section. One of them was quick to notice her and slowly reached for his weapon.

"What are you doing here? No one's allowed in this area!"

The femme fatale smirked and rushed at the guard. She dodged all of his shots and smacked him across the face and kicked another charging soldier, making him stumble down. She faced the soldier she was holding on and quickly knocked him out with a swift uppercut.

The other two soldiers pulled out their stun batons and charged right at her. Cinder's clothing glowed as the Fire Dust she sewed into it gathered and materialized into her twin sabers. She blocked all of their blows and incapacitated one of them quickly, right before dealing with the other one and delivered a final blow to his head that knocked him out.

The elevator doors open, revealing two more soldiers, whom quickly spotted the unconscious bodies of their comrades right behind Cinder. Luckily, they managed to recompose themselves and shot right at Cinder.

She grunted as her clothing lit up yet again, this time, using Dust to block the guards' shots. Cinder manipulated the Fire Dust within her clothing and threw two fireballs right at the soldiers, slamming them into the elevator wall, knocking them out.

Cinder nodded in satisfaction and strolled right up into the elevator. A minute later, a smirking Cinder walked out of the elevator as soon as it reached the top floor, examining one of the Scrolls she just snatched. She sat right on the main terminal and used the stolen Scroll to quickly access the main frame. She smirked and took out her own Scroll and began transferring a program into the system.

The femme fatale resisted the urge to laugh victoriously as the program finished installing as both the main monitor and others flashed the silhouette of Queen chess piece. Her victory would be interrupted by a burst of light. Something materialized right in front of her and swiftly threw out a punch, slamming her right into the wall.

Cinder groaned and studied the figure and saw it was only half of one. It was basically a floating upper body that resembled a robot. Both of its arms resembled a clawed fist. And what seemed to be a cannon attached from its back. The thing stated at her with its single, unblinking, red, mechanical eye. The raven-haired woman froze up, hearing someone approach.

"People often debate - what is the true source of power? Is it by doing evil? Sacrificing innocents? Killing your own friends and making deals with whatever dark and supernatural force that exists? My old colleagues seemed to think so. However..."

Achroma materialized right besides the odd creature, leaning against it with his arms crossed and fists clenched tightly.

"I disagree!"

The scientist pushed up his glasses, cocking back his head as he stared at Cinder. "Now, I'm afraid I must ask you to leave, miss. Or there shall be hell to pay."

He straight up turned his back on Cinder and started typing away on the keyboard, attempting to remove the program that she had installed. The femme fatale called out her twin sabers and jumped at the scientist. However, the creature moved in and struck her right in the gut, sending her careening.

"So that's your decision." mumbled out Achroma, weighing his decision before going back to typing away. "METAGEN. Deal with her."

The robot-like creatures beeped in response before rapidly moving its fists, striking away at Cinder's body with fast-paced hits. One last punch sent her across the rows of terminals. Growling, she pulled out a container of Dust and sent out shards of Ice Dust at the robot construct.

The METAGEN beeped and erected a barrier, blocking the projectiles. Making some sort of sounds, the cannon on its back took aim and fired out sparks of energy. The False Maiden raised up her hand and blocked each one with the aid of her Dust.

Spinning around, she flash-forged out her sabers once again. The odd creature lined up one of its fists and fired it right at her. Cinder narrowly dodged at the last moment, quickly forming a bow and three arrows in mid-air.

The arrows fired at the METAGEN, which dodged around the projectiles, only for one to manage to graze the side of its stomach. Unseen by Cinder, Achroma winced as pain jolted through his body. But he shrugged it off and continued on.

"Need more time." he muttered. He pulled out some sort of blue disc and threw it at the METAGEN. "Douse Drive!"

It called back its arm and caught the disc, inserting it in the slot of its cannon. The weapon began to charge up its next attack. Cinder's eyes widened and pushed both of her hands forward as a large torrent of high-pressured water shot out. The femme fatale struggled to keep up her makeshift barrier as the geyser pushed her back.

With the current stalemate, Achroma achieved more time. His fingers swiftly stroked the keyboard, opening up program after program to isolate and uninstall whatever Cinder had put in.

The battled continued, until the METAGEN won and the blast of water pushed her into the wall. Cinder fell to her knees, panting for air. As luck would have it, her mask had not been knocked out. On the other hand, she felt absolutely sore.

Their skirmish would be interrupted as the METAGEN turned to the newcomer Ironwood stepped out of the elevator, his brow quirked. The robot turned back to face Cinder, only to find that she had disappeared.

Achroma stopped what he was doing, absolutely floored and shocked that the femme fatale had managed to slip by his notice. He frowned concern, trying to figure out how she escaped while the Atlesian General looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

* * *

In a hallway, Cinder had quickly taken off her accessories and used what Dust she had left to shift her stealth suit into a more formal outfit, a black halter dress with matching dress gloves. Hearing the guards that followed after come closer, she approached a random student for a dance.

The two soldiers burst into the room and were visibly confused at the amount of students slowly dancing with each other. They couldn't possibly search her with these amount of student within the premise in time.

"I regret to report that the suspect has gotten away, sir." spoke the Altesian soldier into his radio.

**"There's nothing we can do. We'll start investigations the next day. For now, keep an eye on Penny."**

Cinder quickly broke away from the boy she was dancing with and cut it on her subordinates. Emerald happily stepped aside to let her and Mercury to dance.

" And how's your night been?" inquired the gray-haired student.

"Mmm... a little more exciting than expected." replying cryptically in case there were any eavesdroppers.

Mercury nodded, before cocking his head to the side, smirking. "Should we be worried?"

The False Maiden almost laughed. "Hardly... They'll be scratching their heads long after we finished what we came here for. So now, let's enjoy the rest of the night. After all, it is a party."

He nodded and twirled her around, letting go so she could walk around. Cinder smirked to herself. Today was most definitely a victory for her.

* * *

**Welcome to the dance's chapter. No matter how much I've wanted to humiliate Cardin, I decided to skip the CRDL fight since it would've went largely the same as canon.**

**Also, I've a question, was it alright for me to have stuck in Luna during Blake and Yang's talk? Or should she have not been present at all?**

**And if it wasn't obvious and clear that Achroma is a clear expy of Colress from Pokemon BW2, here. As for what METAGEN exactly looks like, imagine Metang but with only one eye and Genesect's cannon on its back. That's it.**

**Also, I have made the choice of only updating this fic every Wednesday. Just to notify you all.****That's everything noteworthy to say. As always, keep yourselves safe and sanitized. And please review your thoughts down below! Peace out. **


	29. Search and Destroy

The very next morning, after the dance, inside of Ozpin's office was the headmaster himself, Goodwitch, and of course, Ironwood. The general looked absolutely furious, Glynda was irritated and Ozpin looked disgruntled.

"They were here..." Ironwood's voice started calm, before being raised as he slammed down his fist in anger. "Ozpin, they were here!"

"We're very much aware of that! Thank you, James." came out Goodwitch's snarky response, obviously annoyed at him.

"Fantastic!" he grumbled sarcastically. "You're aware! Now are we going to do something about it or should we just stay the course and continue to ignore what's right in front of us?!"

An alert sounded played on Ozpin's desk, notifying them that someone had arrived from the elevator. The headmaster granted them passage, although it wasn't the one they were expecting, and instead it was the METAGEN. It beeped in greeting before its eye glowed and projected a hologram of Achroma.

"Forgive me for my tardiness, and for my absence. I'm currently recalibrating the Void Palace, and I'm almost done with it. Not to worry, I can answer your questions while I work."

Ironwood stepped forward, looking at the scientist with gratitude. "Dr. Colress, though you are not a Huntsman, you did exactly how one should act. You recognized a threat, you took action, and did the very best you could."

Achroma pushed up his glasses, his face neutral. "Such a thing is all but common sense to me, General Ironwood. Anyone with morality and a decent heart would've acted as I did. A man of science I may be, but I care for the people's well-being. Nonetheless, thank you, sir."

Ozpin then spoke up. "Now, the general here has already informed us of the events that... transpired last night, but now that you've rested, we were wondering if you had anything to add."

"Was anyone else with her? Did she look familiar to you at all?" prodded Glynda.

The man of science sighed, looking quite ashamed. "As unfortunate as it is, I did not. I've never encountered her before. She had her face hidden well, and she might be wearing a wig too. She remained silent, so I wouldn't be able tor recognize her by voice. All I could gather is that her fighting style revolves around glass and Dust. Each time she did so, her clothes would light up."

Goodwitch strummed her chin in thought. "Save for the glass, that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby." she shared.

Ironwood shook his head, pointing out how embedding Dust in clothes was an old technique possibly done by anyone. Sighing, he stared at the scientist, asking him if there was anything else.

Achroma loudly hummed, looking down as he thought it over. "Well, it's not really related to what happened last night, but I have heard from a friend that there's been movement going down in the southeast. Far from the kingdoms."

Three looked at each other, surprised at this new information. Ozpin glanced back at the scientist and smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you for your cooperation Dr. Colress. You may go back to your work now."

With a nod, Achroma's projection flickered away. The METAGEN beeped at the three before vanishing in a stream of light and code.

Ironwood was pretty giddy, already planning on assembling a platoon of troops to deploy to the southeast quadrant to have them eradicate anything there.

Goodwitch looked away from the general, growling in frustration at how his answers always had to involve military bravo or have it be some sort of dick measuring contest.

Ozpin sighed at the choice of words but concurred with her, nonetheless, lest they risk the panic of the masses. Ironwood seemed to not be moved until the headmaster hit him with a final rebuttal.

"You're a general, James. So tell me, when you prepare to go to war, which do you send in first? The flag bearers, or the scouts?"

* * *

"Alright guys, just like we practiced!"

Jaune and his team were in one of the spare training rooms, all clothed in their battle gear. The three of them nodded at their leader and got ready. Before them was a standard training dummy, capable of repairing itself any time it got destroyed. Courtesy of a joint project between Atlas and Mistral.

"Thunder's Arc!" roared out the blond.

Immediately, he suffused Red Queen with his demonic energy and sent out a Drive shockwave. Nora was quick to follow, gathering lightning into her hammer and slamming it out, joining with the energy blade as it wrapped around the dummy, electrocuting and constricting it of movement.

"Pomegrenade!"

Pyrrha got ready and raised her shield as her partner flipped back. The redhead knelt down and jumped up as Nora fired her hammer, launching her high up. The Lightning Bomber giggled, descending down. Once more, she fired it to propel herself even faster, spinning around and slammed her hammer right at the dummy, smashing it bits and pieces.

The parts started vibrating before gathering back into a singular spot, reforming itself back into its regular shape, ready to take another beating.

"Crimson Lotus!"

The test dummy found itself get heavy as Pyrrha forced it down with her Polarity. It struggled to remain standing and fell to its knees, but it didn't stop its feeble attempt. Taking in a deep breath, Ren called upon a gale of wind and twisted around the dummy, disorienting it.

"Martial Arcs!"

Jaune charged in with Ren following suit as they equipped their respective gauntlet Devil Arm. The Grandsons of Sparda attacked in complete sync, giving the dummy no room to even breathe as they inflicted it with devastating attacks.

As it stumbled from the damage that they dished out, Ren and Jaune charged up their respective attacks. With a loud war cry, the two of them unleashed two different attacks. Rising Dragon for Ren and Rising Sun for Jaune. It ended up with the dummy being flung into bits again.

As Jaune prepared to call out the next team attack, Glynda's voice rang out through the intercoms.

**"Would all first-year students please report to the amphitheater?"**

"Ah man!" complained Nora. "We were about to get to the good parts!"

"No use crying over spilled milk." Ren supposed, dismissing Gilgamesh and adjusting Alastor on his back.

Jaune nodded in agreement as the four of them walked out of the training room and headed over to the amphitheater. It still surprised the Devil Hunter with the amount of people inside, consisting of just first-year students from all four Huntsman academies. The blond looked at Shade's students didn't have any sort of uniform, and he could see Sun look absolutely uncomfortable in Haven's uniform.

The four of them fell in line with their fellow Beacon students as RWBY followed suit. Goodwitch walked up to the front and silenced the chatter, saying how Ozpin wants to share a few words. The headmaster approached the microphone and began a speech.

"Today we stand together, united. Mistral. Atlas. Vacuo. Vale. The four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day, nearly eighty years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell or who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself."

"It's a surprise that no demons even tried to take advantage of the situation of the Great War. The people were divided, easy for the taking... Although grandpa was still alive at the time, so that could also be a reason." Jaune mused.

"We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: color.

"It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come. And it was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsmen and Huntresses will work to uphold it.

"As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best."

Ozpin nodded, concluding his speech. He stepped back and the students began to file out of the amphitheater and head for the bulletins to pick their first mission.

* * *

"This is perfect! All we have to do is shadow a Huntsman working in the southeast!" exclaimed Ruby.

Yang definitely agrees. "Yeah! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip by night!"

Ren quirked an eyebrow, looking skeptical. "They're experienced Huntsman, Yang. And frankly, none of you are exactly fit to be stealthy. You guys have no-"

"Let's check 'search and destroy'." suggested Weiss.

The pseudo-cambion rolled his eyes at being ignored and went back to his team. Jaune scanned the hologram bulletin for an interesting mission they could partake in.

"You guys got any preferences?" he asked his friends.

"Nothing specific." answered Pyrrha. "As long as we can get it done."

Ren and Nora voiced out their agreement with her. The devil hunter nodded and went back to looking through bulletin when the beeping noise of rejection caught their attention. Looking over they saw team RWBY looking dejected that the mission they picked was denied.

"That's unfortunate." commented Jaune.

The four of them tried to discuss on another idea that could get them there, with Ruby suggesting that they mail themselves there with no sort of exaggeration and that she was completely serious.

"Well, that's one option."

All eight of them turned to see Ozpin approach, with a Scroll in hand and of course, his ever present mug on the other.

"Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was too extreme for first-year students. It seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that you four will make your way there no matter which job you choose. "

The all-female team whistled innocently, trying to act as if they didn't know what the headmaster was talking about. Though internally, they were panicking.

"I'm still curious how you all found yourself at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a hideout in the southeast. And I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals in a dance club some time ago." he continued, smirking in amusement at the reaction of his students.

Giving out a dramatic sigh, the bespectacled man shook his head. "I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for. So how about this: instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just bend them?"

Both of teams looked shocked at this. Ozpin inputted a few commands on his Scroll, bypassing the system to give team RWBY clearance to take the mission.

"We won't let you down." stated Ruby. "Thank you, professor.

"Do not thank me for this." he waved it off. "Teamwork and persistence have carried you far. But you must understand, the things that await you beyond the protection of the Kingdom will not care." he warned. "Stay close to your Huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says. He will be leading you on this mission, and he can have you sent back to Beacon, if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory."

All four nodded in understanding, although Ozpin still had some things to say.

"However, I still don't feel quite comfortable in sending just you four in with a Huntsman, even you are one of the top teams here. With that said... Team JNPR, have you chosen a mission yet?"

Jaune shook his head. "Not yet. Nothing's quite caught our eye."

"If it's not too much of a problem, may I ask of you to act as Team RWBY's backup? The details are the same as theirs. Stay close to your assigned Huntsman and follow their orders."

The blond shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with the request. After all, besides being the headmaster, the man was technically his employer. "I don't see why not."

His team rounded off with a chorus of agreement, making Ozpin nod. "Then I wish you all the best of luck."

* * *

Team RWBY and NPR went ahead, with Jaune going back to the dorm to retrieve something. Ruby looked at her friends apologetically, rubbing her arm. "Sorry for getting you dragged into this, guys."

"It's fine." waved off Pyrrha. "We don't mind. There weren't any missions that really made us want them, so it'll be nice to go with you guys instead."

A smile made its way on RWBY's face, seeing how the redhead was right. Then, they heard that team CFVY had returned from one of the students. The seven of them hurried over and approached their seniors.

"Velvet? Are you okay?" Blake asked in concern for her Faunus sister.

"I'm fine. I had Yatsuhashi to look out for me." she answered, gesturing to her large teammate.

Weiss then thought to ask. "Your mission was supposed to end a week ago! What happened?"

"Nothing happened. It was just ... there were just so many..." she started trailing off, noticing the worried expressions of RWBY and curious stares of NPR. "Oh, but don't worry. You first-years are just shadowing Huntsmen, so you should be fine." Velvet tried to reassure them.

She looked at her juniors with a smile and went to catch up with her team, wishing them the best of luck. Feeling quite nervous, Ruby tried to cheer up her teammates of how they'll be having a Huntsman with them.

"And don't forget about us!" piped in Nora. "We'll crush anything that stands in our way!"

All six girls let out an excited cheer, pumping their fists into the air with Ren joining in with a semi-enthusiatic cry. When they got to their designated Bullhead, all of them had varying reactions. Though RWBY was mostly shock and horror. Ren and Pyrrha was surprise. Nora was disappointment.

"Why hello, boys and girls, who's ready to fight for their lives?"

Their assigned Huntsman was Oobleck, their History professor.

"Professor Oobleck?" Weiss uttered in horror.

As per usual, he spoke fast, pacing in front of his students. "Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, boys and girls, seeing as you've opted to shadow a Huntsman on what is now essentially a reconnaissance mission. I can assure you, we will not be establishing a single base of operations; rather, we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland and making camp in any defendable locations we may stumble upon. I packed all of our essentials myself, plotted our air course, and readied the airship. And... " he zoomed right up to Weiss's face. "It's Doctor Oobleck. I didn't earn the PhD for fun, thank you very much!"

He backed away, and noticed that they were a member short.

"Where is Mr. Arc? According to my schedule we are already three minutes behind as it is!"

Speak of the devil, Jaune came jogging up. "Sorry, just forgot something back at the dorm."

That something being a guitar... Oobleck stared at the item in question for a couple of seconds before nodding and zooming towards the Bullhead without any sort of question. His coffee must have speed in them.

Ruby approached her fellow leader, pointing at the musical instrument. "What's with the guitar?"

Jaune shook his head. "IAnd where's the fun in saying? It will spoil the surprise." He placed Nevan on his back, along with Red Queen, and motioned to his friends. "Come on, wouldn't want the good doctor to be mad at us."

"Cool, you guys heading out?"

The two teams turn to see Sun and Neptune approaching them. They flashed their badges, explaining how they'll be shadowing crime-specialists. That, and how it'll be a great opportunity for them to actually explore the kingdom without anything trouble happening.

Before any of them could respond, Oobleck popped from out of the airship. "Ladies, gentlemen, we're four minutes late!"

The two teams smiled at their friends, wishing them luck as they boarded the Bullhead, taking them to their designated mission area.

* * *

"We never did see you much of a fighter." admitted Yang.

The spiky-haired professor was not offended, and smiled, even. "I admit I fancy myself more of an intellectual, but I can assure you, as a Huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles."

Ruby seemed confused and was about to open up her mouth, until Oobleck beat her to the punch and continued.

"Besides, given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archaeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw fit to assign me to this particular... assignment!

Weiss raised a hand and asked a question. "What does history have to do with this?"

Oobleck turned sharply at the heiress, as if her question wasn't even necessary. "Why, what a preposterous question, you silly girl! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the liver! Probably the kidneys, if I were to wager."

"And that means..?" she continued.

"The southeast quadrant outside of Vale is home to wild forests and deep caves, but it is also the location to one of the kingdom's greatest failures!" explained the history professor.

"Mountain Glenn..." Nora spoke out in an uncharacteristically soft tone.

Ren solemnly nodded, taking her hand into his. "It was planned to be an expansion of Vale... but it failed, and was overrun by Grimm and fenced off from the rest of the city."

"Correct!" agreed the good doctor. "And now it stands abandoned as a dark reminder."

"And a likely place for a hideout." realized Blake.

Oobleck smiled, adjusting his glasses. "Precisely!"

Soon, they slowly approached their destination. The Bullhead flew over a clear spot and hovered over the empty street and allowed the occupants to jump off. Both teams landed down in battle ready positions, though Ooblex seemed lax and calm, taking a sip from his canister as the airship left them.

"Ladies! Gentlemen! You still may be students, but as of this moment, your first mission as Huntresses and Huntsmen has begun! From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say! Do you understand?"

Everyone nodded in understanding. Then, Oobleck looked over at Ruby, startling her.

"Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all of your bags back at school."

The Rosette immediately tried to stammer out a flimsy excuse. "But, uh, you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't."

Her teammates internally smacked facepalmed while JNPR snickered at her reasoning. Oobleck seemed to actually accept it.

"She's not wrong..." he mused. "Very well, Ruby; leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return."

Ruby tried to protest the rider, but all that came out were nervous stammers. "But I, well uh-"

"Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring it with..."

Oobleck stopped himself as the zipper on Ruby's bag opened up, revealing the head of a black and white corgi. Everyone stared at the uninvited guests, with JNPR surprised at the fact that Ruby, and Yang by extension, had a dog. The young girl leaned in at the corgi, telling it to go back inside.

The adorable doggy barked in response, looking around in curiosity.

"We're here to investigate an abandoned urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought... a dog?" asked Oobleck in a deathly calm tone, before doing a complete 180. "Genius!"

Ruby shrugged in confusion before the speed-talking teacher snatched the pet away, causing her to tumbled down while he held up the corgi in the air, spinning him around.

"Canines are historically known for their perceptive nose and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for a hunt such as ours!"

After being stunned for the unexpected reaction, Ruby could only look smug and proudly stated. "I'm a genius!"

While Jaune mostly enjoyed the light-hearted and fun moments, they had a mission to do. "So, what's the action plan for this mission, doc?"

"Ah, yes, straight to the chase; I like it!" He released the corgi, letting him run back to his owner while he adopted a serious pose. "As you've been informed, the southeast area has been marked as a recent hot spot for Grimm activity. Now, there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being... Grimm."

Most of them were confused. Ren had a feeling and craned his head to look behind him, his cousin following suit as Oobleck resumed speaking.

"Grimm. A creature of Grimm approximately one hundred yards from us at this very moment." he explained.

He nodded at his two male students in approval for already noticing. The rest followed their lead and saw a lone Beowolf prowling the ruined streets.

"Ooh! Let's break it's legs!" suggested Nora. Everyone drew their weapons and went to charge in, until the history teacher told them to hold, bringing more confusion to them.

"There are a number of reasons why Grimm will congregate in this particular area, the most likely of which will be their attraction to negativity: sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred. All qualities that are likely held by our hidden group harboring ill intent."

"What now, then?" asked Pyrrha.

"We wait. We track. If this specimen leads us to its pack, that pack may subsequently lead us to our prey." he answered simply.

Blake asked how long they would have to wait, to which Oobleck responded swiftly.

"It's uncertain. Hours, days, weeks. Why, lone Grimm have been known to stay isolated from the pack for months - and there's the whole pack."

He cut himself off, seeing that more Beowolves had joined its comrade.

"What!?" shouted Weiss in shock.

"And now they've seen us." he stated, seeing how the pack were now running towards them.

Weiss repeated her words loudly, causing Oobleck to do the same, slightly deafening her. Seeing as tracking was no longer an option, he was about to order the teams to attack when he looked at Jaune.

"Mr. Arc! There's a reason you brought along that musical instrument, correct? Now would be an optimal time to show it off!"

The Devil Hunter smirked, drawing out the lightning Devil Arm as he readied to play. "Alright. Time to make this party crazy! Boy, you might wanna cover your ears."

The corgi nodded, lowering his head and ears. Jaune started riffing it out on Nevan, creating a pleasant reverb. Around him, a large flurry of bats were summoned, coated in lightning. Drawing back his fingers, the bats zipped towards the oncoming Beowolves and electrocuted them, stopping the Grimm in their place, allowing the bats to feast on their inky flesh, overwhelming them.

Jaune jammed out another session, but kept it up for longer, summoning out more bats and generating more powerful lightning and sending them at the Wolf Grimm that came their way. Deciding to end things, the Arc Devil ran up to the remaining Beowolves and furiously strummed Nevan's strings, lightning striking down around him as another flurry of buts were summoned, easily slaying the creatures of dark.

"Well, how's that for a demonstration?" he asked rhetorically.

The bats dispersed as the monsters were slain. With no more danger, Ruby charged in and tackled her fellow leader, looking at the guitar with starry eyes. "That is so cool! What else can it do? Is it also a gun? How did you make this? How hard was it? H-"

Oobleck cleared his throat, cutting off Ruby's excited rambling. "Ruby! While I agree that that was quite a display, we sill have pressing matters to take care of. I am certain that this bout will be the first of many. Now then, shall we continue?"

The group nodded and trudged forward. Yet again, they encountered another pack of Beowolf, and this time, Jaune gave the others the spotlight, letting them deal with the Grimm quite easily. Meanwhile, Oobleck seemed to be inspecting a lone plant and didn't make a move to intervene in any of the fights.

Once the Grimm were extinguished, he pushed himself up. "Excellent work! Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any signs of criminal operations in this sector. Oh, well! Moving on." he concluded and walked away.

Ruby put away her scythe and beckoned for her corgi to follow them. Yang complained to their professor, wanting to see him in action, or at least help out. Oobleck spun around, rebutting that he was, indeed, helping, by scanning for signs of life or any movements of such. And then told her that not every mission included heroism and daring action.

Yang seemed to accept the answer, but the spiky-haired Huntsman could still see doubt. He pondered about this but ultimately remained silent for now.

As the nine of them walked further into the city, Oobleck was curious and surveyed his students of their true reasoning for becoming Hunters. He approached every member of both teams, barring their leaders.

For Yang, it was the thrill the adventure provided. For Weiss, to uphold her duty and legacy as a Schnee. For Blake, to stop the injustices of the world...though she didn't really know how. Oobleck couldn't deny that he was slightly disappointed on their answers but when he got to NPR, he was more than surprised.

They answered as one - make sure that no one ever has to suffer badly from the negativity, and to inspire others to become strong. Just based on their answers, he knew that the experienced through some sort of trauma. But their answers... There was no doubt, that they would make fine Hunters.

Staring up at the sky, Oobelck could see it was getting dark. He called out to his students and tossed his bag to Yang, telling them set up camp and clear out anymore Grimm that came while he, Ruby and Jaune would secure the perimeter.

The duo followed after the good doctor, rounding off a corner to see a forest in the distance, numerous elephant-like Grimm trudging through the foliage, unminding of their presence.

Ruby pulled out her weapon, suggesting they kill it, with Oobleck responding that it would only agitate the Goliath and that it wasn't necessary. He took the time to lecture the two that not all Grimm were mindless. Over time, they would grow to learn to become wise and patient, knowing when to attack and when not to as killing one human, would bring in more.

One of the many Goliaths turned to look over them with clear disinterest, eyes glowing just as bright as any Grimm.

"So that's why they're still close to the city?" brought up Jaune. "They're waiting for the right time to attack?"

"Indeed." confirmed Oobleck.

With the group of Goliath gone, Oobleck turned around, signaling his students to leave. As they left, Ruby decided to ask a question. The professor thought it would be about why he was interrogating their teammates, she, instead turned it around. At this, he couldn't help but smile.

"Look around, and tell me what you see." instructed Oobleck.

Jaune and Ruby did so. The latter went with the obvious, being buildings, while the former answered it was a great tragedy.

"Very close, Jaune. I see lives that could have been saved. As a Huntsman, it is my job to protect the people, and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry, I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher, I'm able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it in the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look at this wasteland, and I see lives that could have been saved, but I also see an opportunity; an opportunity to study these ruins and learn from this tragedy, and therefore become stronger. I am a Huntsman, Ruby, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather be."

Having said his piece, Oobleck walked away to let the two sit with this newfound knowledge. But something's for sure, their respect for their teacher shot up, and for Jaune, so did the work of a Huntsman.

The both of them were taken out of their musings by the corgi's little barks, reaching up to Jaune's right hand, sniffing it.

"What is it, Zwei?"

"Zwei, huh?" repeated Jaune. "That's his name?"

The blond knelt down and lowered his hand, letting him lean into it, asking for a head rub. The Arc Devil chuckled and gave what the corgi asked for. Zwei enthusiastically barked, nuzzling his head against the hand, liking the heat it exuded.

He rolled over on the ground, showing off his stomach. Jaune smiled, giving the good boy a belly rub. Ruby smiled, walking up to her pet and her fellow leader.

"You're pretty great at handling Zwei. Did you have any pets back home?"

Jaune felt his smile turn somber as memories of the good times with Fenris resurfaced. "I did, but... He's gone now."

"Oh." simply said Ruby, slightly regretting even saying the topic.

The blond noticed her reaction and shook his head. "Don't be sorry, Rubes. Fenris. He was a great doggo...and a good friend. I'm lucky I got to have him."

Shaking his head, the devil hunter stood up and smiled at the Rosette.

"Come on, let's get back to the others. They're probably done with setting up camp."

* * *

At the makeshift camp, Ren had set up a bonfire as the others laid out sleeping bags or fortified the walls in case any sort of enemies attacked. Once done, they laid down with Yang expressing her disappointment of them not being able to find any clues.

"We've just been always fortunate to be at the right place, at the right time." supplied Blake.

"Yeah. Luck can't always be on our side." commented Ren.

"That's not what I meant." Weiss blurted out all of a sudden.

She explained herself on her answer to Oobleck not being completely true. Yang and Blake agreed with her. The trio looked at Nora, Ren and Pyrrha, asking them about their own responses.

"There's nothing to tell about." said Pyrrha. "We stand by what we said - protect the people and serve as inspiration for others to join in. Others lost their lives to make sure we can have peace, and I think it's only right that we honor them by upholding said peace."

Ren and Nora added, affirming their support for their teammate. Silence reigned over the group until Oobleck and their team leaders came back. The good doctor nodded in approval at the bonfire, with Ruby immediately sitting in front of it, Zwei laying besides her, enjoying the warmth.

The Huntsman told them to eat their dinner and asked for any volunteers for the first watch. Jaune raised his hand, making Oobleck nod as he rushed up to another section of the building. The devil hunter grabbed a few biscuits and headed up to the vacant windowsill, giving a perfect view of the outside.

Zwei walked up to the blond, deciding to accompany him on his shift. Jaune smiled and scratched behind the corgi's ear, making him pant in delight. The others soon fell asleep as Jaune silently strummed Nevan's guitar, continuously gazing around the premises.

* * *

**And cut! That's a wrap! We're slowly coming to Volume 2's end. Now, for any of those who were wondering how was it that Achroma knew of the White Fang activity down in the southeast despite not being present when it was said is simple - Ruby shared the info with Jaune, who discreetly told his sister, who shared it with a select few others, Achroma being one of them.**

**...Did that make sense? I hope it did. And finally! I utilized Nevan. Don't worry about Alastor. I'll use him in the next chapter, I promise. Now, I'm unsure if I should cram the finale into one chapter or write it as two separate ones. That's still up for debate.**

**Anyway, something to be brought to your guy's attention is Grimm Eclipse. I'm still if I'm gonna go completely faithful, or add some of my own spins too it. But considering what I've been doing, I might as well go all out.**

**That's all for this week. Remember to review if you have any questions or criticism regarding this story. Otherwise, I'll see you all around. Keep safe. Keep sanitized. Peace.**


	30. Wrong Side of the Tracks

Jaune sighed, rather bored. He spotted a lone Beowolf digging through the rubble. He was sorely tempted to shoot it, but knew that Blue Rose would wake up everyone with the loud noise it produced.

Ruby walked up to her friend to relieve him of his shift. Technically, he could go on for a few days without sleep due to his demonic heritage, but sleeping just felt really good and he could never resist it. Jaune walked up to the vacant sleeping bag amongst his team and plopped down, immediately entering the realm of slumber.

Weiss, Blake and Yang were still awake, Oobleck's question buzzing about in their minds. They couldn't sleep, and so, Yang decided to talk about her own experiences about why they chose to become Huntresses. Soon, Blake contributed her own, which ended up into a little rant. Weiss shared hers as well.

Taking note from NPR's answer, they all agreed that their own needs and wants would bexome secondary, and that the protection of the people came first.

Unbeknownst to them, Oobleck had been listening from his location, half-asleep. The good doctor smiled in approval, proud that his students saw what he had been trying to covertly tell them.

The three girls prepared to go to sleep, but the restless noise and grunts coming from JNPR's sides grabbed their interest. Looking over, they saw Jaune tossing and turning, occasionally muttering a few choice words.

"No... G-Get away from them, you bastard. Guys, run..."

The trio watched the blond with anxiousness as he continued to mumble out a few more, mostly incoherent sentences, but they had enough to get the gist of it.

"Jaune... He's having a nightmare." concluded Blake.

They watched as flashes of pain flared up on his face, groaning while he kept writhing about, trying to fend something off.

"Wow... I always thought he was the fearless kind of guy. With how strong he is, and how effortless he does most stuff, I pegged him to not have any sort of fear." admitted Yang.

Weiss scoffed at that notion, crossing her arms. "No one's born strong. Everyone has to work hard to get to the top and become powerful." Her features then softened, turning into worry as, suddenly, his expression became calm and rigid. "But I wonder... what can make Nero feel afraid?"

"Well," started off Yang. "No use in thinking about it now. I think it's stopped. Let's get some sleep in. We still have to take shifts later."

Blake and Weiss nodded, the latter even yawning as they all laid down and finally got some sleep. But had they stayed up just a few more seconds, they would've noticed that Jaune had started tossing and turning again.

* * *

**IN THE DREAM**

Jaune cried out in pain as he was sent crashing into a building and out of a window, flying onto the road and rolled to a stop, hitting a wall. He groaned loudly, feeling his body ache. He felt up his stomach and saw blood seeping out.

The area around him was the text-book definition of an apocalypse. The whole city was in shambles. Most buildings were in ruins, rubble and debris scattered around everyone. Everything was ablaze, the sky a dark shade of red. Around him, dozens of bodies surrounded him, unmoving.

The cambion growled and punched the pavement, Triggering into his Devil form. He pushed himself up and rocketed back towards the one responsible with a loud war cry. Both Yamato and Fenris materialized into his hands as he spotted the man's silhouette, shrouded in flames.

Charging up the respective katanas, he prepared to deal a devastating blow, only to be shot down by an energy blast, bringing him down. Shaking off the cobwebs, he roared and rushed towards his target. Jaune wildly swung around both blades, trying to get a hit in but failed at every step.

**"Dark Barrier!"**

Green energy flickered in front of the blond and it repulsed him back, dropping his Devil Arms in the process. Huffing in frustration, he channeled the powers of the Yasakani Jewel and dashed forward, slashing at the figure with ethereal claws wreathed in brilliant flames.

Unfortunately, each of his attacks were gracefully evaded by the mysterious figure. As the cambion made another move to strike, a hand tightly gripped his neck, blocking off his source of air. The wave of fire parted, revealing the imposing figure of God Rugal.

**"Pathetic."** he sneered out.

The Mad Genocider laughed mockingly pierced his stomach with his hand infused with Orochi Energy. Jaune gaped, losing even more of his air. Rugal grinned and suffused the energy and violently blew him off. He clawed at the ground, trying so desperately to breathe, but couldn't. He was so preoccupied that he didn't even notice Rugal stride up to him and stomp down on his arm.

The cambion howled in pain as he felt his bones crack and crumble under the pressure. He refused to whimper, even if the tears were starting to show. Rugal rumbled with dark mirth and tightly gripped the Devil Bringer and placed his foot onto the blond's shoulder.

Jaune's eyes widened and didn't even get proper time to react as his demonic arm was brutally ripped off. He could only cry in absolute agony as blood spurted out from the stump. The megalomaniac grunted and tossed it into the flames, letting it burn.

Jaune tried so desperately to move, but his body was completely paralyzed. He couldn't even try to crawl away. He could only stare as Rugal slowly walked up to him with the intent to end his life, laughing as he did so.

"S-Stay away..." he rasped out, but he was paid no heed. "No... No! NO!"

* * *

Jaune shot out of his bed, letting out a short but completely terrified scream. His body was drenched in sweat, panting heavily. He quickly reached for his arm, and found that he still both, making him sigh in relief.

"Get a hold of yourself. It was just a nightmare." he told himself.

"You okay, Jaune?"

The blond looked up and saw Yang peek out from the other room, having taken up the shift for night watch. He gave her a shaky nod, citing how it was just a nightmare. He had no need to sleep now and planned to relieve Yang, when he noticed an empty spot...and no sign of a certain Rose and corgi.

"Wait, where's Ruby?" he spoke out in alarm.

Oobleck poked his head out of the corner, trying to confirm what he just heard. Zwei came running in, barking quite worriedly. He ran up to the blondes, yipping at them. By now, the rest of the group had awoken as the good doctor dropped down, looking serious.

"Grab your weapons." he ordered. "Ruby may be in trouble."

Everyone jumped out of their mats and grabbed a hold of their equipment while Jaune knelt down to meet with Zwei. "Think you can lead us to where you last saw her, boy?"

The black and white dog barked in affirmation and scurried off, the eight of them quickly following.

* * *

Ruby groaned as she woke up to being dragged by two WF soldiers through what seemed to be an underground city. All around her, White Fang members were at work, doing various things such as piloting a Paladin to carry large shipping containers. Then, one of them dropped a rather large device.

"Hey, be careful! What are you trying to do, blow us to the moon?" reprimanded one of the more older-serving WF member.

"Sorry, sir!" apologized the one to drop the item in question.

Ruby felt her vision be a bit shaky, but her eyes went wide in fear at the device the Faunus revolutionariee carried into the trains. One of the guards that dragged her, who happened to wear glasses for easy distinction, called out to their main superior.

"Hey boss! Found something you might want to see!"

"Is it good or bad, Perry? Because let me tell ya, I have had a day." came out Torchwick's voice from inside the railcar.

"Uh, it's a little girl?" Perry answered, unsure of what to make of her.

Roman leaned our of the doorway and immediately saw Ruby, his eyes narrowing. "That would be bad."

* * *

Zwei led Oobleck and the seven students further down the streets to a large hole, with Crescent Rose lying right next to it. Yang immediately ran up to it and started to panic. Ruby would never leave behind her beloved weapon carelessly.

"That's...a pretty big hole." commented Nora off-handedly.

"Do you think she fell?" Weiss voiced out in concern.

Oobleck looked up, zooming up to the Heiress. "Fell?"

"Down there." she pointed at the very obvious hole

Oobleck stared at it for a good few seconds until the realization kicked in. "Oh my. Of course! Of course, OF COURSE, OF Course! How could I be so stupid?!"

"What's the matter, Dr. Oobleck?" asked Ren.

"Mountain Glenn! Yes, an expansion of Vale that was inevitably destroyed by creatures of Grimm! Previously home to thousands of people! Working people commuting to the city, the main city! Developed a subway system to the inner city! Grimm attacks increased! Population in danger, now desperately searching for shelter! City evacuates into the metro tunnels and what do they find? The southeast quadrant of Vale is known for wild forests and deep caves!"

The blonde was lost on the sudden history lesson. "Doc, what are you saying?"

Pyrrha seemed to pick up what the good doctor meant, the dots connecting. "You mean that the underground criminal network literally went underground."

Blake couldn't tell whether to be disturbed or aghast. "They've been working in caves?"

Oobleck shook his head, correcting her. "No, no, Mountain Glenn was Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. It worked for a short period of time, thanks to an aggressive perimeter defense, and unique transportation; the city developed an elaborate subway system to carry citizens safely from the new territory into the main Kingdom! Sadly, without the many natural barriers Vale had to protect its borders, Mountain Glenn was doomed from the start! As the end drew near, the citizens of the territory made one last attempt at survival: They took up shelter beneath the city! In massive caves that they had cleared out for the subway. And they had cut themselves off from the surface!"

"An entire settlement was built underground?" asked Jaune, quite amazed.

"In a matter of speaking, yes. A safe haven. Until... an explosion opened the mouth of another cavern, filled with subterranean Grimm. After that, the Kingdom officially sealed off the tunnels, creating the world's largest tomb."

The seven of them couldn't help but shudder at the thought of thousands of people begging for help and salvation...only to be met with their cruel demise. Oobleck looked more serious than ever as he tightly gripped his thermos, turning it into its weapon form.

"Come, we need to find Ruby!"

"...I know shouldn't be weirded out by the fact that a thermos also doubles weapon, but it really does." commented Jaune to himself.

He decidedly ignored it and jumped down the hole, the others following suit.

* * *

Ruby grunted as she was thrown across the floor by Torchwick, looking a little roughed up. The Rosette glared at the criminal mastermind, who laughed at her.

"Wow! You are much more manageable without that oversized gardening tool of yours."

Ruby got up and charged at Roman, who simply sidestepped and tripped her with his cane, causing him to laugh even harder, almost bringing a tear down his eye.

"Oh man. You know, Perry, I really did need this."

Perry raised his thumb in agreement as Roman continued to guffaw in enjoyment at being able to get some bits of revenge on the teen. But now, it was back to business. He walked over to Ruby, glaring at her.

"But seriously." he aimed Melodic Cudgel at her, ready to shoot whenever. "How'd you find this place, Red?"

Ruby remained silent and used her Semblance to try and escape, heading for the nearest exist. Torchwick was briefly startled, though he quickly composed himself. Smirking, he spun his cane in his hands, and aimer the handle at the Reaper. He fired it, like a grappling hook, catching Ruby by the hood and pulled her back to him.

"I see you've got some tricks up your sleeve!" he commented, dragging her to continue his interrogation. "Let me make this clear: We're not through here yet."

A massive explosion sounded off in the background, causing Roman to look up. "Oh, what the..." He rolled his eyes and looked at the only WF grunt he bothered to learn the name of. "Perry, if you and the boys could take care of that? Kinda in the middle of something."

Perry nodded and went off to investigate the explosion, only for another to sound off as dust fell down from the ceiling, the ground quaking, which annoyed Torchwick to no end as he demanded to know what was going on.

A third explosion made itself known as numerous WF soldiers rounded off a corner and fired at something. They were quickly picked off as Jaune and Ren came into view, dashing forward and knocking them aside with their respective swords.

With Roman and the Fang distracted, Ruby used the moment and jumped over the former's shoulders, pulling down his hat and used him as a springboard to run back to her friends. The criminal mastermind growled, readjusting his hat. He pondered whether or not to have Ruby be attacked before deciding to cut his losses and ordered the train to be started.

"But we're not finished!" complained the grunt.

Obviously, Torchwick was too angry to care, pinning him up against the wall with Melodic Cudgel. "Do it or you're finished!" he threatened before boarding the train.

Ruby continued running bringing herself to a halt as she realized she was running towards a group of White Fang grunts. A huge explosion appeared behind the Faunus and was blown away, revealing her friends, with Yang at the helm.

"Ruby!" cries out the blonde as her sister jumped into her arms for an embrace.

Weiss asked in concern. "Are you okay?"

"You're not hurt, are you?" inquired Pyrrha.

Ruby shook her head, hurriedly insisting that she was fine. "But listen! Torchwick's got all kinds of weapons and robots down there. Androids, mechs, they're all loaded up on the train cars!

Blake voiced out her vocal disbelief as she handed over Crescent Rose back to its owner. But Oobleck denied the possibility.

"Ahhhh, that's ridiculous. These tunnels are sealed, the tracks lead to a dead-end. There's no other route for them to take."

A high pitched ringing started before quickly being replaced with Torchwick's voice. **"Get to your places, we are leaving now!" **

The group watched in surprise as the train began to start and move into the tunnels. Oobleck looked at his students, staring at them almsot expectantly.

"I believe with only have one option..."

"We're stopping that train!" finished the team leaders.

* * *

A WF grunt standing guard at the last train cart perked up, hearing something. He peeked out from behind the train and saw the flutter of a red cape and a trail of rose petals. He brought out his radio to inform his comrades, but was cut off half-way by Oobleck's thermos.

With no one else to warn the others, the nine of them climbed up top the train, preparing to move to the next cart when Weiss noticed something.

"Er... Professor?"

"Doctor..." he growled out.

She ignored his correction and instead pointed down at the hatch into the train. "What's that?"

Everyone looked to the direction and saw some sort of device, with numerous wires strewn and connected to it. Oobleck knelt down for closer inspection and could only come to one conclusion.

"That, my dear...appears to be a bomb."

This frightened RWBY while JNPR was greatly alarmed. Why was there a bomb on the train they were on?! Before anyone could maybe the suggestion of disarming it, Ruby spotted Fang grunts climbing up the train and approaching them.

"Well, I didn't expect them to go-" Oobleck paused, hearing the bomb below him start to tick, beeping red. "-easy on us... Time to go!" he ordered to the two teams.

They all quickly ran up to the next cart. He stopped Ren, telling him to detach the caboose. The Son of Dante prepared to slice it off when, all of a sudden, it detached by itself.

"What the- It decoupled itself!" he informed them.

They all watched as the caboose blew up and caused a chunk of damage to the tunnel. Oobleck could only shake his head and express his worry.

"Err, neither is this!" called out Ruby, she and Weiss holding up the hatch that they were standing on.

"Another bomb?!" cried out Blake in surprise.

"Make that three!" informed Jaune on another cart. "There's another over at where Nora and Pyrrha are at."

Oobleck paled at the implication that every cart had a bomb inside of them. The bomb under them armed itself, along with the cart being detached. They quickly hopped onto the next one, with Yang expressing her confusion. However, the grunts grew near, so they slipped into their respective stances and got ready.

The first one approached Yang. The blonde smirked and swept him off his feet before pummeling him right into the cart with a wink. Blake gave them no time to move and dashed straight into the center and spun herself around with her weapons, pushing them off of the train.

Weiss darted forward with the use of her Glyph, leaving behind a trail of ice as she sliced at anyone in her range. Ruby smirked and chocked her scythe and fired off, propelling her forward as she knocked off a few more Fang grunts.

Nora giggled, having fun as she easily whacked around the Faunus that came her way with Magnhild. Befitting of her title, Pyrrha easily dealt with the grunts that approached her. Spicing things up, she flung her shield around and discreetly manipulated it with her Semblance, causing it to revolve around, making everyone get hit everytime they get close.

Jaune and Ren attacked as one, the latter finally making use of the lightning blade, the both of them batting away all of their opposition with almost no effort exerted. Rather boring, really.

Meanwhile, Oobelck observed as to why the carts would detach and explode. His expression grew into horror as the holes created by the bomb allowed form numerous creatures of Grimm to emerge and began to follow after the train.

"He's leading the Grimm into the city!" loudly realized the good doctor. "It's the cars! They detach and explode, creating openings for the Grimm."

Jaune stabbed down Red Queen, lightly shaking his head in disbelief at what the Fang were doing. _"This can't be... This doesn't fit her code, nor does it fit with her M.O... Eve. The hell are you thinking?"_

They were forced to move to another cart as the one they were on decoupled. Oobleck pointed at Yang, Ren, Weiss, Pyrrha and Blake.

"We have to hurry! You five, get inside the train and try to disarms the bombs! While the rest of us... We're going to stop the train!" he finished dramatically, though the moment was quickly ruined by Ruby.

The groups split up, the aforementioned five hopping inside while the rest dealt with the continuous swarm of White Fang soldiers. Soon, they were backed up by their cavalry, in the form of Atlesian Paladins, all bearing their logo.

Oobleck didn't seem intimidated, and instead, sipped from his thermos. Smirking, he transformed it into its weapon mode, a small flame burning at its tip of where he had just drank from.

Jaune saw this and couldn't help but mentally ask at how unsafe that was. Zwei barked at the professor, looking quite ready. Neither Nora nor Jaune were prepared as the corgi jumped and flipped into the air. Oobleck slammed his weapon on Zwei and sent him like a deadly, spinning fireball.

The Paladin saw the incoming projectile and tries to shoot it down, to no avail. Zwei hit it dead center, ramming it off the train as he watched it explode when it hit a barricade. Blond and ginger looked at each other, surprise and awe in their faces.

"I'd say that was animal abuse... But Zwei was clearly having fun."

"You think they'll let me do it next?"

Another Paladin dropped down, aiming its guns at the corgi. Before it could fire any of its weapons, numerous fireballs slammed into a machine, being followed up with a rotating slash, knocking it off.

Jaune couldn't help but smirk, gripping his blade tightly. "Never thought Dr. Oobleck would be one to show off... Come on! Let's get this party started!"

Ruby and Nora nodded in agreement and they charged in to help their teacher.

* * *

Down below, inside of the carts, the five of them had dropped down into a room that didn't have a bomb. They all ran forward, getting themselves ready with Weiss even tossing a magazine filled with Dust to Blake. As they prepared to continue, Neo dropped down, barring their path.

Yang frowned at the sight of the ice-cream girl and called dibs. "You guys go on ahead, she's mine."

The others nodded and ran off. Neo was about to stop them, when she noticed a kinetic shot coming right at her, forcing the petite girl to dodge. The two stepped up to each other, the height difference very clear, though it didn't bother Neo one bit, smiling.

Yang clenched her fist, and went for a right straight towards Neo's face, only to be deflected by her parasol, which was quickly followed it up with a jab to the stomach, causing her to stumble. Roman's partner-in-crime opened it up like a noblewoman, mocking the blonde with a smirk.

Yang dashed forward, unleashing a flurry of several punches, as Neo simply dodgef each attack, moving her body swiftly and gracefully, yet somehow laid back. With every unsuccessful blow, the Blonde Bomber continued moving forward as her last three attacks brought her to a knee, where she tried a roundhouse kick, allowing Neo to deliver a spinning hook kick, knocking Yang to the ground.

Yang growled angrily, to which Neo responded with a drop kick. However, Yang rolled away and shot off for another attack. The pint-sized criminal parried her attack, following it up with an ax kick to the chin before kicking the blonde's stomach.

Neo pushed Yang into the offensive, her parasol easily countering all of her moves. The ice cream criminal effortlessly pushed Yang back against a wall, until the latter shot a blast directly towards the former's feet. Neo backflipped gracefully onto a metal container, awaiting her next move.

* * *

As the four of them continued further, Ren suddenly stopped, looking back. Pyrrha noticed her team mate's behavior and asked what was wrong.

"Yang may be in over her head. Just to be safe, I'll back her up. I'm sure you ladies can handle Torchwick."

"Yang will take it personally if you cut in, you know." Blake warned.

"Better to live another day than to let your hubris kill you."

Without another word, Ren turned around and ran back into the train cart they were in. The now trio placed their confidence in each other and continued on into the next cart, only to be met with the sound of revving up ahead.

Before them was the WF Lieutenant at the gathering, dragging a chainsaw along the ground. Pyrrha and Weiss stepped up, deciding to take him on. The two charged forward and locked weapons with the man, allowing Blake to flip over them and get into the control room, but not before giving them a nod.

The redheaded Hoplite pulled back so suddenly, allowing the Schnee Heiress the chance to strike the high-ranking officer, before Pyrrha rolled over her and landed a kick to the stomach, following it up with a shield bash that knocked him down.

The WF Lieutenant chuckled darkly, holding his chainsaw tightly as he brandished it with malicious intent. "As long as I get to kill the Schnee, I'll be happy."

Weiss wordlessly held up her rapier in an en garden position, while Pyrrha clanged her xiphos against her shield before switching to her fighting stance.

* * *

Blake entered the room and was instantly met with Torchwick, twirling around his cane with a smug look on his face that just made her grit her teeth.

"Hello, kitty cat. You miss me? You know, we really gotta stop meeting like this. People are gonna talk..."

Blake charged forward for a feint and used her Semblance infused with Fire Dust to create a fiery shadow of herself. Roman struck it and it exploded, propelling him into the air. Blake jumped up and delivered some midair strikes that knocked him down.

Roman fired a blast from his cane. Blake used Earth Dust to create a stone shadow of herself to take the blow. Leaping overhead, she feinted again. The dapper criminal blocked the continuous barrage from Blake with the use of her Semblance and tried to counterattack.

But she was one step ahead, creating another shadow, this time infused with Ice Dust, she trapped his weapon. While he tried to pull it out, Blake performed a vertical slash that sent a shockwave down the train car, destroying the ice sculpture and knocking Roman into the door.

Before he could stand up, Blake stomped on his chest and held her blade to his face. Torchwick chuckled nervously, his bravado fading.

"Why are we fighting? I saw you at the rally. We're on the same side, and you know it." he tried to argue.

* * *

Back at Yang against Neo, the former was not fairing well against her opponent. She seemed to perfectly counter all of her attacks, and it was pissing her off. The blonde fired off a blast, which was blocked by Neo's parasol. The two engaged in close combat, with the criminal having the upper hand.

Yang grabbed her leg and tried to throw her, only for Neo to turn it back on her, grappling her and used the momentum to throw her against the ceiling. The blonde groaned, feeling herself slip. As the petite woman prepared to deal another strike, a sword came hurtling towards her like a boomerang out of nowhere.

Neo immediately flipped out of the way, but did not at all expect an elbow to come crashing against her face, with a forceful palm thrust connecting to her stomach, sending her smashing through a stack of crates.

Ren caught Alastor and brandishing it. Next to him, Yang picked herself up, glancing at the devil hunter with the mixture of a glare and a pout. "I had that."

"Clearly you didn't." sassed Ren, before his eyes sharpened. "Take a breather, and step in when you've recovered. I'll handle her for now.

Yang would've argued, but relented, knowing full-well that Ren was right. She scampered off to the back as Neo recovered, glaring at the intruder of their fight. The Son of Dante stepped back and unleashed a Quick Drive Shockwave at the petite woman.

Neo flipped over the blade of energy, and analyzed Ren's stance, who evoked nothing. He grunted and fired off a fast Reppuken, surprising not only Neo but, Yang too. She dodged the wind projectile and quickly ran up to her new opponent.

The both of them engaged into close combat. But unlike with Yang, Neo had a hard time reading Ren's moves to properly counter them. He parried her attacks and retaliated with his own, savagely striking her face and swiftly followed it up with two quick kicks to her side before initiating a roundhouse kick that caused her to stumble.

The ice cream lady's eyes widened as Ren jumped forward, the thrusters on his greaves charged up for an ax kick. She narrowly avoided it, the floor beneath her being heavily dented.

While he recovered, she seized the opportunity and began her attack. She only managed a few hits in until Ren dominated the fight once more. Yang finally recovered and joined in. Neo was frustrated, forced to go on the defensive. She blocked their attacks, unable to even get a hit in.

With no other choice, Neo used her Semblance and her figure shattered like a mirror. From behind, she got onto Ren's shoulders and attempted to vault him. However, Yang intercepted, forcing her off with a Superman punch. With this, Ren flung Alastor right at her. The criminal accomplice deflected the blade, but the devil hunter had dashed in and struck true, swinging it around with style, the last hit crashing her into the crates.

Neo pushed herself out, getting livid at being pushed around by two kids. She was about to re-strategize when a woman in black and red, wearing a full Grimm mask, black hair draped from behind. She seemed to recognize the newcomer and bailed out, using her Semblance.

"Hey, come back here!"

"It's no use." said Ren with a frown. "That woman scared her off."

The two of them regarded the masked stranger with apprehension and alertness. For some reason, Yang felt as though the woman was...familiar to her. As if they were connected. Without a word, she turned her back on them and sliced open a portal, momentarily shocking Ren, as she walked in. He turned back to his friend, seeing her far-off look.

"You okay?" asked Ren.

"I'm fine..." she responded, though her tone was oddly soft. "Never mind that. Let's go and help the others. _Was that...my mother?"_

* * *

Weiss and Pyrrha against the Lieutenant went pretty well. The former rolled out of the way as the latter blocked his chainsaw. The deranged Faunus grinned and tried to push down harder to try and slice her shield, but found it not working.

Weiss grabbed his moment of distraction and zipped forward, striking thrice before creating a whip of water with the Dust in her chambers, lashing at the vulnerable man. He didn't take to this kindly and grabbed the water whip, pulling in the Schnee Heiress for a lariat. He grabbed her by the head and slammed onto the cold floor, before tossing her into the air.

She recovered, materializing a Glyph to land on. Since he was so focused on her, he didn't see Pyrrha's attack coming. Akuou struck him right in the temple, bouncing right off. The redhead ran in and kicked it back into his head, then did it again a third time before retrieving her shield, bashing it against his stomach, making him keel over.

With a grunt, she struck him on the chin with a backflip kick, slamming against the wall. The WF Lieutenant grunted, refusing to give up. He grabbed a hold of his chainsaw and charged at the girls with a furious roar. Weiss dropped down and stabbed Myrtenaster into the floor, it's blade imbued with Earth dust, causing a wall to erect itself before her.

This didn't stop him, as he just cut through it. Like a bull enraged, he wildly swung his chainsaw at the two students. The both of them managed to avoid every one of his swings, as all in its path was sliced through. Seeing enough, the two deflected all of his strikes, hitting him whenever they saw an opening.

Deciding to end things, Weiss nodded at Pyrrha and focused on a new type of Glyph she had been working on. She imbued Lightning dust into a haste Glyph and materialized it over the redhead. The Invincible Girl grinned at the boost and rocketed towards the revolutionary. She gave the lieutenant no room to breathe, constantly assaulting him with attacks while manipulated her shield to continuously revolve around her, causing him stumble quite a lot.

Pyrrha called back Akuou and smashed it against the Faunus' face, disorienting him and cracking his mask. She knelt down, cupping her hands to launch up the Schnee Heiress. Weiss cast a Glyph above her and used it as a platform to push herself, spiraling down and knocking out the WF officer.

* * *

Roman grunted as Blake moved her blade to his throat , looking a bit more roughed up from earlier.

"Oh, still feisty. Soooo, what are we gonna do now? You think a little bow on top is gonna make people forget who you were? What you've done...?"

She gritted her teeth at his words, unable to refute them. From behind her, the door opened up from the previous cart and the unconscious lieutenant fell in as Pyrrha and Weiss entered.

"...Well that's just unfair." he commented at his chances of winning.

Blake smirked at him and kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold.

* * *

Back up top, the group was doing just fine. Oobleck avoided a couple of swipes from the Paladin. He ran up on the giant mech and shot out its engine before jumping off and shot at its joints. Nora jumped to the front and whacked two Paladins off the train, having been charged up by Jaune earlier with Nevan, so she had even better ease with dealing with them.

The Son of Vergil alternated with using Red Queen and Nevan, dealing out swift combos with the former, then switching out to the latter to stun his opponents before going back to his trusty sword and finishing them off.

The four of them converged into spot and fired at a singular Paladin, letting it short circuit and crash down before exploding. The good doctor turned around, seeing more Paladins approaching. They prepared to shoot, when he held up his hands.

"I must remind you three that what I say still goes... And I say it's time I teach them a lesson."

Running a hand across the brim of his hat, he charged up to the two mechs. Ruby took notice of Zwei's sad disposition, before telling him to go on and join Oobleck. His expression did a 180, barking happily before running up to join the good doctor.

The three of them got to the front of the cart just in time to reunite with their teammate and friends. But then, they took notice that the train would be going on a collision course against a thick concrete wall.

"Well shit." cursed Jaune.

"What do we do?"

Jaune stared at his right arm, before clenching it tightly and willed Yamato into existence. RWBY was surprised at its sudden appearance, more so when Jaune drew the elegant katana and made two incisions in the air, creating a portal.

"Wait, how did you-" Yang was cut off, by Jaune.

"No time to explain. Come on!"

Without a second to spare, Jaune inside, quickly followed by his team. The girls looked at each other, unsure, before deciding to trust their friend and jumped after. Just as the portal closed up, the train crashed right into wall and blew up.

* * *

The eight of them had appeared from behind an alleyway, with an ample view of the destruction the crash had caused. Multiple civilians stared at the carnage in shock. The sun was high up in the sky, shining brightly. Then, Grimm began to flood out of the whole, causing a mass-wide panic as the alarms started blaring.

"Come on!" bellowed out Jaune, brandishing his father's sword.

With no hesitation, the two teams charged right into the fray and engaged battle with the Grimm to distract them and give the civilians an opportunity to escape. They all broke into single sections to try spread out the dark creatures.

Ruby swung away with Crescent Rose, slashing at the Beowolf that surrounded her. Yang jumped onto a Creep, using it as a platform to soar into the sky bring down a few Nevermore before she was brought down herself.

Blake struck at the Beowolves with Gambol Shroud, using its ribbon to reach a longer range, before pulling back to use its gun variant and fired at the approaching Grimm.

Weiss blocked another pack of the Wolf Grimm with a Glyph, before using it to conjure up a blade of ice, slicing through them.

Ren's expression was blank, but inside he felt livid. Various Creeps surrounded him and swung their tails at him. He sliced them all off with Alastor, before moving in and bashed in their skulls with Gilgamesh with charged up strikes.

Nora faced off against a King Taijitu, hissing at her with its forked tongue. The giant snake lunged at the ginger, but she caught it by the fangs, stopping it in its tracks. Grinning, she ripped them off and stabbed it in the eyes, before ending its life by whacking off its head with Magnhild.

Pyrrha flung Akuou at an unsuspecting Beowolf, managing to slice off its head. She spun around and defended herself against a group of Creeps. Glaring at them, she called back her shield and staggered them with it. While distracted, she quickly finished them off.

The others stared at Jaune, and couldn't help but let out a noise in awe. The blond moved with grace and elegance often unseen in him as he wielded the Yamato. Every stroke he performed, the blade easily cut through any type of Grimm, whether an Ursa Major or an Alpha Beowolf.

Grabbing Red Queen, he imbued it with demonic energy and flung them at a pack of Beowolf terrorizing the civilians, letting them flee as the wolf creatures were shredded. Yet no matter how many they killed, more and more seemed to pop up.

"Dammit. There's so many of them. They're like annoying cockroaches!" grunted out Jaune, bifurcating a Beowolf's arm.

Then, the cavalry arrived. A fleet from the Atlesian Military had arrived. It consisted drop ships that deployed Atlesian Knights and the flagship of General Ironwood at the very helm. Multiple Bullheads joined in, being boarded by most of the students.

From the hole, the surviving forces of the White Fang had no plans of surrendering and opened fire on the civilians, while their own brand of Paladins emerged as well and helped in their havoc.

The AK-200s formed out a line and helped in suppressing the terrorists from killing more civilians. A separate group of the knights went on to fight the Grimm hand-to-hand. Meanwhile, the drop ships fired out at the Paladins with its machine guns.

Out in the streets, Cinder and her team watched the ensuing chaos. The femme fatale nodded at her subordinates, before walking off. Mercury grinned and kicked down an Ursa, connecting his boots to its neck and lopped off its head.

Emerald drew out her dual pistols from their holsters and rained fire upon the Grimm pack that stampeded towards her. All but a single Ursa fell to the barrage of laser shots. The verdette quickly transformed her pistols into sickled blades, flipping and slashing at the rampaging Ursa. The bear creature tried to attack, but Emerald had jumped behind it before slaying it.

As more Knights subdued Grimm, out of the opening came Zwei, followed by Dr. Oobleck in a damaged Paladin. The dog jumped off the mecha to headbutt a Beowolf, knocking it out.

Another airship arrived, dropping off Team CFVY and Professor Port. As Yatsuhashi was surrounded by a pack of Grimm, he unlimbered his large sword before smashing it on the ground, unleashing a shockwave that sent them flying. Velvet and Fox kicked and punched the Grimm with Fox impaling a Creep, showing them why they were one of the best second-year teams.

Nearby a large spiked Ursa roared, charging at them. Fox intercepted the Dark creature with a kick then unleashed a combo of slashes and punches with his weapon. Knocking the Grimm skyward with an uppercut, she delivered a devastating blow to its head as it descended. After landing, it swelled up and exploded, impaling its fellow Grimm with its spikes. Coco walked forward and swatted a few away with her handbag while Yatsuhashi shielded Velvet before the two start advancing.

She complimented Fox for his actions, even patting his butt before walking to an Alpha Beowolf, who roared in her face. The fashionista lowered her shades, glaring at the Wolf Grimm. "You destroyed my favorite clothing store." Pushing them up, she spat on the side. "Prepare to die."

The Alpha lunged with its right arm, only for it to be swatted away. Coco kicked it in the crotch, causing it to fall down. She crushed its skull with her handbag. Quite effortlessly, she fought off three more Beowolves and leapt back to avoid a Death Stalker's stinger. Velvet prepared to help out, only to be stopped by her team leader.

"Hey, come on, you just spent all the semester building that up. Don't waste it here."

Her purse then transformed into a giant mini gun. With a grin, she started firing, slaughtering the advancing horde of Grimm, including a Death Stalker and three Nevermores.

Oobleck jumped off of the Paladin, regrouping with Port, nodding their heads. They fired their weapons at the approaching Grimm, easily burning them all down to ashes with no effort.

Nearby, Goodwitch walked down the streets, her face contorted into a furious expression. A few Beowolves tried to attack her, but they were easily repelled back with a wave of her riding crop. She reached the center of the Breach and fixed up the hole with her Semblance as the rest of the Grimm were finished off.

The remaining members of the White Fang saw this and lowered onto their knees, putting their hands over their head. They had no other choice but to surrender.

* * *

"Looks like they're cleaning up."

Deeper inside of Mt. Glenn were two men, robed in a large cloak with hoods, revealing nothing of themselves aside from their voices. They oversaw numerous robots moving out dozens of crates and cages, while viewing footage of the failed Breach.

" It would s-s-s-seem so." Looking at one of the cages, the creature inside sparked with electricity, banging against its prison. "It appears that this one is eager t-t-t-to play. Shall we r-r-r-release it?"

The first cloaked figure hummed, before grinning at his compatriot. "Why not? It'll be the perfect farewell gift for the Huntsmen, and to keep them on their toes. Go on ahead, we don't have much time left. The good doctor's waiting on us."

The second cloaked figured nodded and did just that. Once he unlocked the cage, almost immediately, the creature became nothing but a crackle of energy bouncing across the room before it disappeared in a flash.

* * *

"Oh, I can't believe that you've caught me. You've really taught me the error of my ways." mocked Torchwick.

He had been recovered among the wreckage of the train and had immediately been apprehended, along with the surviving White Fang members. An AK-200 harshly grabbed him by the arm, almost making him drop his bowler hat.

"He-hey! Watch the hat!"

Jaune and his friends watched the criminal mastermind continued to be escorted as Emerald and Mercury approached them with 'friendly smiles'. All around them, everyone celebrated the victory that they achieved, smiles on their faces. The Arc Devil blinked, feeling his Devil Bringer act up. His eyes widened, hearing the clap of thunder reach his ears.

"Get down!" he cried out.

Unfortunately, his warning came a bit too late. Something streaked through a number of civilians and even two of the captured WF grunts, killing them with electrocution. Lightning crashed down at the center of the pavilion, revealing the assailant.

The people murmured, looking at the unfamiliar creature, but Jaune recognized it. He had fought against it inside of the Savior, after all.

"A Blitz?!"

It was indeed, but with a few key differences. It was definitely bigger than a regular one. It's claws were slightly longer but definitely sharper. The armor pieces on it seemed more plated and reinforced. And it's lightning. Normally, it would be yellow, now it's black.

Some of the Hunters, namely the professors and Ironwood, heard Jaune's shout laced with familiarity. Before they could even utter a word, the demon roared loudly, bringing back the fear from earlier. Not just the civilians. Even some of the Hunters and Torchwick looked afraid.

The AK-200s opened fired upon the Blitz, but it was far faster than they could anticipate. The androids fell to its claws, all of them slashed to pieces. It disappeared in a burst of electricity, dodging the attack it received.

Ruby cocked Crescent Rose and prepared to use her Semblance to intercept the Blitz to try and strike it down. Jaune saw this and tried to warn her not to.

"Ruby, don't!"

But his warning fell on deaf ears. The devil hunter cursed under his breath as the Rosette disappeared in a flutter of petals, charging at the lightning demon. The scythe's blade made contact with the Blitz's skin and sent out a powerful discharge through the young girl's body.

Ruby cried in agony as she was repulsed back. The elite demon took offense to her attack and rushed in for another strike. Everyone tried to move in and defend her, but none of them were fast enough. The Blitz reared back it's claws to swipe at the young Rose, causing her to shut her eyes in fear.

And yet the blow never came. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped, seeing Jaune in front of her, holding back the lightning monster back. However, she was more drawn towards his arm. The sleeve had been torn off and it looked...for the lack of a better term, demonic.

The devil hunter pulled back his Devil Bringer and clocked the Blitz in the face, sending it crashing right into the pavilion. Jaune noticed the clothing mishap and groaned. "Oh great. Like I needed this."

Glancing at his friend, he looked at her face for some sort of reaction and found her looking at his arm in a mixture of awe and amazement. He shook his head and told her to get away.

"Get back, Rubes." he warned, walking up to the demon of lightning. "Things are about to get hairy."

"Mr. Arc!" called out Dr. Oobleck. "It is imperative that you stay away from the creature! We don't know what it's fully capable-"

The Blitz recovered and zipped towards Jaune. He grunted and blocked with his Aegis Shield, standing his ground. The blond smirked and drew out Blue Rose, shooting the demon in the face with a Charged Shot, blowing it back away by a considerable amount. Before it could recover, Jaune charged up a Drive shockwave and fired off the energy blade towards it.

The creature of lightning avoided the attack and reappeared before the Son of Vergil, going for an attack. He swerved out of the claw's range and fired out another Charged Shot. Once more, the Blitz teleported to another location and this time dashed towards the cambion.

Jaune didn't get to react in time and felt its claw's sink into his stomach, electrocuting him. He gritted his teeth and kicked off the demon, blood seeping through his clothes, bringing murmurs to the people. Team RWBY moved to intervene, but a glance from Jaune made them remain rooted into their place.

"That lightning shield sure is annoying." he mumbled.

The devil hunter pounded his fists together, equipping Beowulf onto his person. The Blitz snarled and moved in for another attack. This time, he was prepared. Jaune roared and grappled the demon with a Buster. He unleashed a series of punches and kicks, chipping through the electrical shield with the assistance of the Devil Arm gauntlets.

Pulling back his arms, charging up for a Dragon Breaker. Once he hit the second glow, the Arc Devil roared and released the devastating, rising, double uppercut. And it was enough to be done with the Blitz's electrical shield.

He dismissed Beowulf and took hold of Red Queen, swinging the blade into Max-Act. He dashed forward and struck it twice with an Ex-Streak Attack. Having one more rev of Exceed, Jaune launched it into the air with a High Roller, going along with it.

The Blitz was still vulnerable, and he quickly used the advantage and Bustered it once more. Once more, he barraged it with a chain of punches and kicks, before crashing it down a forceful heel stomp.

The demon of lightning growled in the crater it was in and felt irritated, not taking kindly to being easily beaten. It had been captured and forced to go through so many experimentations to increase its power, and yet here it is, being easily beaten by Sparda's kin! It did not like that at all!

The Blitz let loose a fierce and livid roar as lightning began to crackle through its body again. Except this time, it was a burning white instead of black. Jaune was taken aback by its sudden boost of speed, that even he didn't manage to follow, as it pierced his stomach and flung him up.

Charging up, it streaked through the blond numerous times and slashed at his body at different parts, causing blood to splash and coat the ground, making the more experience bunch flinch while those unused to such sight gagged.

The Blitz crashed back down, letting the chains of lightning explode and shock the cambion, bringing him agony. It brought its claws together and created a powerful spark that locked up his body and left him vulnerable, his face stuck in pain.

"Are we seriously just gonna stand by?" voiced out Sun.

He may not know Jaune all that well, he still couldn't just stand by and watch him get this hurt. Some of them began to move but NPR blocked their path. Pyrrha looked at them, telling them to trust in the blond.

The devil hunter cracked a smirk and broke free from the shocking chains, a hazy aura of power starting to emanate from his body as he stood back up, the wounds on his body closing up. His eyes shifted from its normally calm azure blue to its menacing blood red, boring into the Blitz.

**"Come on!" **he taunted with a distorted echo.

The lightning demon obliged and zipped across, only to shriek in pain as it's arm was cut off. Everyone blinked, seeing Jaune in the process of sheathing back Yamato into its scabbard, not even noticing when and where he got the weapon.

The Blitz snarled and swung with its remaining claw. He parried the attack with the sheathed Yamato. Without a moment's rest, he furiously slashed at the demon with such blinding speed that most of the Hunters couldn't even follow. One last strike, he spin-slashed it down, and slammed the katana back into its scabbard, the damage he inflicted finally appearing on the Blitz, sending it into the air.

His Summoned Swords flashed to his side and blistered towards the Blitz, pushing it further up. Grabbing a hold of Red Queen, he imbued it with a bit of his demonic energy and hurled it at the demon, keeping it up in the air.

Tricking towards it, he carved up the Blitz with a rising, twirling slash, before crashing it back down. In one fluid motion, he descended down and ended its life with a Helm Breaker, bisecting it. He walked away from the corpse, flicking off the blood on his blade. Jaune carefully slid her back into her Saya as the body blew up in a large explosion of lightning behind him.

Immediately, his team ran up to him, asking if he was okay. He nodded, smiling in assurance as he dismissed his demonic aura. The blond looked up and saw the crowd staring at him with still silence. Jaune could not deny, he felt a bit apprehensive at what their reactions would be. Fear? Nervousness? Or-

Ruby zoomed in and shattered his expectations, getting a closer look of his arm. "Woah! It looks so cool! What else can it do? Can you store other stuff inside of this? Ooh! Does your other arm change into this too? Or, no! Can you modify-"

"Easy, Rubes, easy." he said, trying to calm her down. "I'm not exactly going anywhere. I'll answer them one at a time."

The rest of her team and friends then soon approached Jaune, smiling and asking if he was alright. Ironwood raised his hand, signaling the remaining AK-200s to lower their weapons, and continue escorting their captives.

The General would let them rest for the moment. They've earned the reprieve. He can ask them more when they've fully recovered.

* * *

Later, in Ozpin's office, he was currently in a meeting with Vale's Government Council. He had his back turned against them, staring outside the window with an aloof expression.

"Ozpin? Ozpin!" called out one of the members.

Ozpin turned his chair towards his desk, looking at the holographic screen with the video feed of the councilmen and of Ironwood at the corner.

"Yes, Councilman." he said.

"You've left us no choice!" started the first one. "The Vytal Festival tournament cannot be broadcast, let alone held, if we are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens."

Ozpin just sipped from his mug.

"Ahem..." he cleared his throat to get back on track. "Therefore, we have reached out to the Atlas Council and together have decided that the best action is to appoint General Ironwood as head of security for the event.

"Thank you, Councilman." responded Ironwood, nodding. "Our Kingdom is happy to lend as many troops as it takes to ensure that the event runs smoothly and safely as possible."

"And we thank you, General. Not only that, those at Mistral were kind enough to send a squad of their best soldiers to assist as well."

"Will that be all?" asked Ozpin.

"For now." replied the councilman with clear disapproval. "But after this festival comes to a close, we are going to have a serious discussion about your position at Beacon Academy. General Ironwood's reports over the last few weeks have left us somewhat... concerned. I am sure you understand."

The video of the councilmen disappear leaving only Ironwood and Ozpin. They silently stared at each other for a moment. The general assured his friend that this was the right move and hang up, leaving Ozpin to look at the large Atlesian Ariship outside his window with slight concern.

* * *

Jaune sat silently on his bed as his friends were seated at the bed across from him. All eight of them had gotten proper rest, and it was time he explained himself.

"So...what exactly was that earlier? Is it your Semblance or something? And what about that cool katana you used to make the portal?" Ruby started off.

Weiss shook her head, a dawning look of realization coming. "Hold on... How did I just now remember? You're a demon...!"

Jaune made notion to deny it because it was true. "That's right... Well, partially. I've demon blood coursing through my veins, but I'm mostly human. It may come off as a shock but, I'm the grandson of the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda."

"Sparda?" parroted Blake. All four of their eyes widened at that.. "As in the former demon lord who betrayed his kin and fought for the humans and Faunus. He's real?"

"That's right." confirmed the blond. "He fell in love with a human and settled down with twins, one of which is my father. The sword that I used earlier is the Yamato. It used to be gramp's until he passed it down to my old man, and in turn, to me."

Yang raised her hand. "So, how can it make portals? Is it, like, special?"

"It is." piped up Ren, taking over for his cousin. "Sparda deemed himself to have become too powerful and split his power into three blades. Yamato is one of them. She's imbued with the power to divide and wipe out the darkness, which somehow leads to its ability of cutting through the very fabric of space itself. This sword is what our grandfather used to forever separate the demon world from the mortal realm."

" Woah." softly uttered Ruby in amazement. "So-"

"Wait." cut in Weiss. "So Ren, you're part-demon too?" the heiress asked.

"Me too." said Nora. "Renny and I got demon blood swimming in us. Pyrrha's the only one in our team who's 100% human."

With this, the all-girls team looked at each other, silently processing what they've just learned. Ruby stood up with a smile, before waving goodbye to them.

"Welp! See you guys at classes tomorrow."

Weiss followed suit after her partner, curtesying them with a bow. "Jaune saved my life on one occasion. You're all good people. I see no reason to treat you all differently."

Yang pushed herself up, pouting at the four before she descended into chuckling. "Man, you guys were already cool, and now you're all even cooler. That's unfair. Save some for us."

Blake merely only nodded in understanding and walked out with a smile. Now, it was just the four members of JNPR. Jaune plopped down onto his bed, a slightly bewildered look on his face.

"That was not at all I expected. To be honest, I kinda expected them to go a complete 180 and hate me."

Pyrrha joined him, resting her head on her shoulders. "They've known you for months now, Jaune. They're your friends, and true friends stick by each other through thick and thin. You gave them no reason to hate you."

"Yeah!" agreed Nora. "You're being too cautious, Fearless Leader. And besides, if they did hate you, we'd break their legs!"

"Nora, no. We don't break anyone's legs."reined in Ren.

Jaune chuckled. Maybe he'd been reading too many weird stories. His eyes fell on his gaming console and a thought crossed his mind.

"So, who's up for some Smash. Bros.?"

* * *

Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald meet discreetly at a rooftop, overlooking the pavillion where the Breach had occurred. The False Maiden smirked proudly.

"All in all, I'd consider today a success."

"Those stupid kids really made a mess of things. Especially that Arc brat." complained Emerald.

Mercury nodded in agreement and voiced out his own concern. "Guess he's more of a threat than we pegged him for. And besides, a lot of Faunus didn't make it out the tunnels. You still think the White Fang's gonna listen to us after all of this crap?"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slice off your heads and call back my brothers and sisters?"

From behind them, Eve emerged, a large and livid frown on her lips. Her arm had been replaced with a robotic prosthetic after it was disarmed by Cinder. The femme fatale chuckled darkly, her eyes lightly glowing.

"Oh Eve, did you already forget?"

The red-haired Faunus gasped in breathless pain, her arm starting to act up and spread discomfort through her entire body. Cinder smirked condescendingly down on Eve, enjoying the moment, fingering the button she had just pressed.

"You lost against me. And it's only fair that obey my every whim, or those of my mistress. If not, then punishment is inevitable."

Eve gritted her teeth, glaring heatedly at the smug bitch through her mask. "Fine." she spat out. "As long as no more of brothers and sisters die, then I shall abide your command."

"Of course..." drawled out Cinder. "I promise."

* * *

**And that's the end of the Volume 2 portion for this fic. I tried my best. I thought it would be better to just compile all of them into one chapter, instead of splitting it up into a two-parter.**

**Anyway, I have an announcement to make - I'll be going on hiatus after his chapter goes up. Not because of the same reason I had with Lurking Monsters(like losing ideas or motivation, oh no I still have oodles of that). It's just that, classes are gonna be starting up soon for me, and I want to turn my attention to those first. So, for the entirety of October, there won't be any sort of updates. Hope you can understand. **

**That's everything I can offer for now. As always, review on what you think or if you have any questions, don't be afraid too ask. Stay safe and sanitized, and I'll see you all next time. **


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